Mobile morgues and outside funerals: How Stanislaus County handles surge in COVID deaths
Following the deadliest month of the coronavirus pandemic, Stanislaus County has the second highest COVID-19 mortality rate among counties in California.
It’s a tragedy for affected families, and the toll is exerting pressure on local funeral homes that are trying to keep up with requests for funeral arrangements.
Stanislaus recorded 188 COVID-related deaths in December and already has added 15 in the first few days of 2021 for a total 631 or 115.7 per 100,000 population, according to the Los Angeles Times tracker. Only Imperial County, at 233 per 100,000, has a higher per-capita death rate.
Los Angeles has recorded 10,773 deaths during the pandemic, a rate of 106.7 per 100,000.
Lonnie Alvares, president and chief executive officer of Turlock Memorial Park and Funeral Home, said the mortuary usually averages 480 calls for funeral services a year but was well over 600 in the past year.
“This summer we were hit pretty hard,” Alvares said, noting that October and November provided a respite. “Once December got here, it was more than even the summer was. We’ve had a lot bigger surge than the summer.”
Local authorities and hospitals were not caught unprepared by the rise in mortality tied to coronavirus outbreaks.
Sgt. Tom Letras of the Sheriff-Coroner’s office said the county emergency operations center looked into additional space for decedents not long after the first COVID-19 cases were detected here in March. The county initially decided to rely on the regular capacity of the newer coroner’s facility off Oakdale Road, which was completed in 2015 and has space for 120 bodies.
The new morgue replaced a smaller, decades-old facility that proved woefully inadequate during a disastrous heat wave in 2006.
In August, the county started leasing a 40-foot cold storage unit for the coroner’s office in case hospitals need assistance with the rising coronavirus death toll, Letras said. It can hold 20 decedents, but the unit costing $1,000 monthly had not been needed as of last week, the sergeant said.
Letras said he was aware some hospitals also arranged for more storage capacity in preparing for potential spikes in critically ill coronavirus patients. The county’s five hospitals had 328 coronavirus patients in the latest count Monday, including 66 in intensive care rooms.
Hospitals were reluctant to talk about mortality preparations in a state where 29,633 new COVID-19 cases were reported Sunday and 26,635 fatalities have occurred over 10 months.
Oak Valley Hospital in Oakdale rented a mobile morgue near the start of the pandemic “just to be prudent but fortunately we have not had to use it,” said David Rodrigues, the hospital’s vice president of administrative services.
A spokesman for one hospital chain said last week that many hospitals in the state prepared for the worst by securing additional morgue space but it hasn’t been needed in Northern California. Hard-pressed Southern California is a different story, however.
Changes in how funeral homes operate
Typically, arrangements are made for a funeral home to pick up a decedent who has perished from COVID-19 at a hospital, nursing facility or private home.
Kristi Ah You, managing partner of Franklin & Downs Funeral Home in Modesto, said the funeral home is almost stretched to the limit in trying to assist families with their loss. Franklin & Downs served more than 70 bereaved families in December, compared with 40 in December the previous year, and has 12 funerals scheduled for January, Ah You said last week.
“There is just not enough hours in a day,” she said.
The mortuary business allows a small number of people in its chapel for brief visitations. Sometimes, families are holding funeral services for loved ones outside in the cold, the fog or rain.
“We have been very careful (with infectious disease controls), “ Ah You said. “Everyone who comes to our building has to call in advance and, once they pass the screening process, they have to wear a mask.”
Staff members coming to work at Franklin & Downs each morning have their temperature checked for fever.
Alvares said Turlock Memorial has a large chapel with seating for 450 people, but services are currently limited to around 25 mourners who are safely spaced apart. Earlier in the grueling pandemic, the mortuary was allowing closer to 50 people while blocking every other pew.
Of the 40-plus services that are currently scheduled, about 15 are for people who succumbed to COVID-19.
The pandemic guidelines for the funeral home call for closed-casket services for COVID-19 cases. The mortuary can offer viewing behind a glass window that protects family members and friends.
“Most families during this time are understanding the difficulties we are up against now,” Alvares said.
This story was originally published January 5, 2021 at 8:38 AM.
