Wayne County morgue brings in refrigerated trucks for surge in coronavirus deaths

As COVID-19 deaths continue to rise, the Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office is gearing up for the inevitable: more bodies than it can hold.

To prepare for the surge, the morgue brought in two refrigerated trucks, another is expected this week, and a fourth arrives next week, said county spokesman Bill Nowling.

Nowling said the morgue can hold 300 bodies, and already has 200. The refrigerated trucks can hold about 35-40 bodies each.

"We anticipate the need is going to increase as we start to hit our peak," Nowling told the Free Press on Tuesday.

He said the morgue could approach its capacity this week or early next week as the coronavirus pandemic slams Detroit and Wayne County. 

"We've seen a steady uptick in the number of bodies in the morgue and it's only a matter of time, as the number of deaths increase," the morgue will reach its limits, Nowling said.

Nowling said hospital morgues in Wayne County are also filling up and will start sending bodies to the county morgue.

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Mark Evely, director of the mortuary science program at Wayne State University, said the medical examiner's office is "doing the prudent thing in anticipating capacity issues and properly planning for that."

"You have to prepare for it. You can't wait for it to happen."

Three people, who asked that they not be identified, said the Detroit Medical Center has had a refrigerated truck on its campus to hold bodies.

One of those individuals, who asked that he not be identified for fear of losing his job, said he saw a refrigerated truck at the dock of Detroit Receiving Hospital on Tuesday morning.

Another person, who also asked that he not be identified for job-related reasons, said the truck was already holding bodies. 

A spokesman for the DMC did not respond to questions Tuesday afternoon. 

While the Wayne County morgue prepares for an imminent surge, the Oakland County morgue is at less than 50% capacity, said Casimir Miarka, administrator for the Oakland County Medical Examiner's Office. 

The Macomb County Medical Examiner's Office did not get back to the Free Press on Tuesday afternoon. 

Evely said funeral directors are allowed to remove bodies from local morgues and are "taking universal precautions when we're transferring remains," such as using personal protective equipment and limiting the number of staff who come into contact with the remains. 

He said if funeral homes were not retrieving remains, "bodies piling up somewhere, that's a public health risk."

"Remains have to be dealt with in a safe manner and dignified manner."

He said funeral homes are seeing an increase in calls "and are doing the best that we can to serve families, given the constraints that have been placed on funeral services" during the pandemic.

Some families are choosing to bury or cremate a loved one now, with a service to follow later. Others are choosing to have services.

While funerals of 50 people are allowed, Evely said, "most funeral homes are following a more stringent guideline of 10."

"We as funeral directors, we believe very much in the value of having a funeral. We sympathize with the families who need that support, of having people attend the funeral," he said. But it's not the same in a time of pandemic.

Not only have families lost a loved one, Evely said, they've also lost the in-person "support that they would normally have from families and friends."

Contact Jennifer Dixon: 313-223-4410 or jbdixon@freepress.com