LONGVIEW — A recent increase in COVID-19 deaths has overwhelmed Cowlitz County’s storage capacity, prompting the coroner to ask the commissioners declare an emergency to allow the county to bring in a refrigeration trailer.
Cowlitz County commissioners Tuesday agreed to the request to help expand capacity until the new morgue is ready for staff to move into in about a month.
Cowlitz County Health and Human Services data for the past week is incomplete, but at least eight county residents died due to COVID-19 between Aug. 31 and Sept. 6, according to the department. The residents were between their 40s and 90s, and seven of the residents were hospitalized.
Coroner Tim Davidson said the morgue and the county’s funeral homes are maxed out on capacity and are “being creative” to maintain cold storage. All together, the facilities can typically hold 45 bodies and right now have about 65, he said.
“We’re just doing our best that we can to preserve the dignity of the deceased from this point forward until they can be processed for their families,” Davidson said.
PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center doesn’t have cold storage because in normal times, remains are picked up promptly by the medical examiner or funeral home, said hospital spokesperson Randy Querin. The hospital deferred questions about COVID-19 deaths to the health department.
The morgue can hold 10 bodies, but is currently “way above that,” using gurney tables in the cooling rooms to handle the increase, Davidson said. The new morgue that’s under construction will be able to hold 50 in cold storage, he said. Staff is set to move into the new building around Oct. 4, he said.
The length of time the coroner holds a body depends on how long it takes the family to pick a funeral home and if the funeral home has a backlog, he said.
The county should be able to rent the trailer rather than purchase it, and the Department of Emergency Management is looking into the cost and other details, Davidson said.
Cowlitz County’s per capita COVID-19 death rate has been above the state average since January, according to the health department.
“Overall, we are seeing an increase in deaths due to COVID-19 following the recent swell of cases and hospitalizations,” said Stefanie Donahue, health and human services communications manager.
COVID-19 deaths are not always immediately reported to the health department and take time to be reviewed, Donahue said.
Cowlitz County recorded 229 new confirmed COVID-19 cases over the three-day weekend, bringing the total to 9,170 confirmed and 1,061 probable cases.
