Virus effort defers FF/FG talks

Race to put in place enough temporary mortuaries

‘There’s going to be no capacity’

AUTHORITIES are racing to ensure temporary mortuary facilities are in place to cope with an expected surge in Covid-19 deaths in the coming weeks.

Plans still under discussion involve the use of temporary morgue structures held by local authorities and even the use of refrigerated trucking containers in a worst-case scenario.

This week, as sombre convoys of military trucks were utilised in Italy to transport Covid-19 victims en masse to cremation, those in the mortuary trade here were bracing for a similar surge.

‘There are no issues at present but there are going to be major issues if this kicks off next week or the week after,’ one mortuary employee told the Irish Mail on Sunday.

The professional – who is familiar with all city and hospital morgues in the east of the country – said capacity in the capital stands at about 100.

That figure includes the City Morgue in Whitehall, north Dublin, with a capacity of approximately 50, and all the major hospitals where capacity ranges from 25 places to just six.

Under normal circumstances, the Irish death rate stands at 6.3 per 1,000 people – just under 29,000 a year.

Yet in one worst-case scenario Ireland is now facing the prospect of 85,000 Covid-19 deaths, according to an Taoiseach.

‘You do the maths on that,’ the employee said. ‘The numbers are going to rack up and there’s going to be no capacity.’

Under major emergency plans in place nationwide, local authorities – in agreement with local coroners and the HSE – are responsible for providing temporary mortuary facilities.

Authorities in Dublin and Cork will both use temporary ‘mortuary domes’ which they have purchased from UK firm Flexmort at a cost of hundreds of thousands of euro. For example, Dublin Fire Brigade (DFB) holds a Flexmort mortuary dome at its training facility in Marino which is allocated for use in Dublin and Wicklow under the HSE’s emergency plan for the region.

Last night, a DFB spokesperson told the MoS: ‘Discussions are currently taking place with respect to capacity, location and scale of mortuary arrangements. DFB will help support any eventual arrangements on behalf of the Eastern Regional Local Authorities.’

In Cork, emergency services invested €125,000 in a Flexmort mobile morgue 18 months ago and have since carried out test deployments at Collins Barracks. Housed in a refrigerated container, the system can be deployed from the back of a truck by the Defence Forces and can be inflated in minutes.

Its body-racking system – which can store 56 bodies – also includes two stand alone refrigerated containers that increase body storage capacity to almost 100.

However, it is likely that refrigerated trucking containers will also have to be utilised – a measure that has been listed in emergency plans. For example, the Mayo County Council plan states ‘that in the event of mass amounts of casualties, temporary mortuaries may be used in the format of refrigeration trailers for storage of large amounts of bodies’.

In addition, local authorities have compiled lists of suitable buildings which may have a capacity ‘for the storage of bodies and post mortems’.

Hospitals too have routine emergency arrangements to deal with a surge in fatalities arriving by ambulance.

For example, when a major incident is triggered, Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown has plans in place to pronounce death at the front door when an ambulance arrives before temporarily placing victims in body bags in the hospital’s physio room.

One of the issues expected to contribute to difficulties at mortuaries is the requirement for Covid19 testing.

‘If somebody is suspected of passing away from Covid-19, they fall under the Coroner’s jurisdiction so they have to be tested,’ one mortician told the MoS.

In a statement, the Coroner Service has confirmed that postmortems will not normally be required in the event of a confirmed Covid-19 death in hospital. However, in the event of a suspected Covid19 death at home or in hospital, a body will have to be stored while a swab is taken and a test completed.