Refrigerated Trailers Now Being Used To Store Bodies As COVID-19 Cases, Deaths Surge In Tarrant County
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) — With a surge in COVID-19 related deaths in Tarrant County the medical examiner's office has started using two large, refrigerated trailers to store bodies.
CBS 11 News first reported in December that the trucks were being brought in and parked near the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's office in anticipation of an increase in deaths.
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Funeral homes in the are have also reported full storage rooms and no space to store bodies.
Sources tell CBS 11 the county started using the trailers the weekend after Christmas.
According to Medical Examiner Dr. Nizam Peerwani, each trailer can hold about 50 bodies.
Having extra storage at the medical examiner's office was first discussed during the spring of 2020 but was never needed -- even during the July surge.
So far during the pandemic, Tarrant County has had more than 150,000 positive coronavirus cases resulting in more than 1,500 deaths.
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