Ice rink was pressed into use as temporary mortuary
THE height of the Covid-19 pandemic saw Halton Borough Council forced to call on a temporary mortuary it set up at an ice rink.
The local authority converted the Planet Ice rink at The Hive in Widnes into a ‘temporary body storage area’ as a precaution at the beginning of April.
At the time, the council stressed that the temporary mortuary might not be needed but a spokesperson has now confirmed that it was required to assist a local funeral director.
The spokesperson said: “We can confirm that the temporary mortuary was required for a brief period, for a small number of clients.”
In total, the temporary facility cost £137,588 to set up and run – a sum which the council intends to recover from the Government.
The temporary mortuary has now been dismantled and the building handed back to Planet Ice.
The need for a temporary mortuary underlines the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Widnes and Runcorn, which have so far suffered 126 deaths from COVID-19.
As well as placing additional demands on the borough’s funeral homes, the death toll has meant the borough has already seen almost the same number of cremations it would expect in a full calendar year.
According to a council report, Halton’s cremators have been ‘worked to their limits’ and will require ‘major servicing’, with a temporary portable cremator being installed in mid-June to help relieve some of the pressure.