XPost: alt.rush-limbaugh, sac.general, alt.politics.liberalism   
   XPost: alt.politics.obama   
   From: bksherman@latimes.com   
      
   The Department of Homeland Security has been briefed that New   
   York City’s morgues are nearing capacity, according to a   
   department official and a second person familiar with the   
   situation.   
      
   Officials were told that morgues in the city are expected to   
   reach capacity next week, per the briefing. A third person   
   familiar with the situation in New York said some of the city’s   
   hospital morgues hit capacity in the past seven days. And a FEMA   
   spokesperson told POLITICO that New York has asked for emergency   
   mortuary assistance. Hawaii and North Carolina have asked for   
   mortuary help as well, and the disaster response agency is   
   currently reviewing the requests, according to the spokesperson.   
      
   If the available morgue space in New York City fills up as the   
   number of COVID-19 deaths increases, federal help will be   
   available, a former senior administration official said, noting   
   that the George W. Bush administration sent mortuary assistance   
   in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the Sept. 11 attacks.   
      
      
   The Department of Health and Human Services oversees the   
   Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Teams, which can help set   
   up temporary morgues. The teams operate in response to requests   
   from local authorities.   
      
   For now, city officials do not seem especially alarmed. Aja   
   Worthy-Davis, a spokesperson for the New York City Office of the   
   Chief Medical Examiner, said concerns about morgue capacity may   
   be unfounded. OCME’s morgues can store up to 900 bodies across   
   all five boroughs, she said.   
      
   “We have the ability to expand pretty dramatically,” she said.   
   “If you look back at what we did during 9/11, we have the   
   ability to create mobile stations that allow us to house bodies   
   if we run out of space.”   
      
   New York City has not dealt with mass casualties at the rate as   
   Covid-19 in recent memory, however.   
      
   “All hospitals within the city tend to have small morgue spaces,   
   so it’s possible that with the capacity of hospitals in New York   
   City, there may be an expectation … that they’ll run out of   
   morgue space,” Worthy-Davis added.   
      
   https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/25/dhs-briefing-nyc-   
   morgues-near-capacity-148259   
       
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)