On the 12th, at the Los Angeles County coroner’s office in California, the National Guard is moving the body of the Corona 19 dead to a mobile morgue. [AP=연합뉴스]
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Los Angeles, California, the U.S., the largest spread of Corona 19 in the winter, could not handle the influx of corpses, so it is now in a situation to lift cremation regulations.
On the 18th (local time), according to U.S. CBS broadcasts, the South Coast Air Quality Management Administration (AQMD) announced that it would temporarily lift the limit on the number of cremations enforced in Los Angeles County.
Los Angeles County has limited the number of cremations per month to prevent air pollution. However, due to the recent surge in Corona 19 deaths, it was decided to lift regulations when the body could not be processed in time.
AQMD said, “Currently, the death rate in Los Angeles County has more than doubled compared to before the Corona 19 outbreak.” As of the 15th, more than 2,700 dead bodies were found in hospitals and coroners throughout Los Angeles County.
With this measure, 28 cremation sites in LA County can be cremated without restrictions from the authorities, such as the number of times and incineration temperature. It can be applied for the next ten days, but can be extended depending on the situation, AQMD said.
![On the 30th of last month, the funeral of a man who died of Corona 19 is being held at the Continental Funeral House in Los Angeles, California.[AFP=연합뉴스]](https://i0.wp.com/pds.joins.com/news/component/htmlphoto_mmdata/202101/19/ecb31fb4-6f02-4302-a13c-a93c03ed7255.jpg?w=900&ssl=1)
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On the 30th of last month, the funeral of a man who died of Corona 19 is being held at the Continental Funeral House in Los Angeles, California.[AFP=연합뉴스]
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AQMD’s emergency order was at the request of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, California. Los Angeles County is currently in the worst situation, with one death per eight minutes.
Los Angeles County was the first county, a sub-administrative unit of the state government, to have more than 1 million cumulative infections on the 16th. The cumulative death toll was 13,848, with more than half occurring in the past two months.
As the body becomes oversaturated in hospitals and the like, the state government operates a mobile morgue with a refrigerated truck and body bag outside the hospital. Each county funeral home handles 30 bodies, six times the usual number. You have to wait at least a week for the body to be salted and cremated.
The cemetery’s capacity has long since reached its limit. Whittier’s Rose Hills Memorial Park, which covers 2,500 acres (approximately 10 million square meters), has to wait at least a month to store.
The hospital system collapse has also begun. Of the 7,300 hospitalized patients, 23% are severely ill, but treatment is delayed due to insufficient medical oxygen supply. Because of the worsening condition, even if you take an ambulance to the hospital, there is no room, so you have to wait up to 8 hours.
In addition, the corona 19 mutant virus’L452R’, which was reported in Denmark in March last year, has also been confirmed, increasing tensions. Virus experts believe the mutation, found in more than a dozen counties in California, has been linked to a large outbreak.
The Public Health Bureau said, “In the aftermath of the New Year’s holiday, the mortality rate will continue to increase for the next 4 to 6 weeks,” he said. “Please refrain from going out and follow personal quarantine guidelines.”
Reporter Lee Min-jung [email protected]
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