Body backup overwhelms NJ nursing home

An extraordinary number of coronavirusrelated deaths overwhelmed a nursing home in northern New Jersey where police found 18 bodies on two consecutive days earlier this week in what the governor called a “makeshift morgue.”

Police got an anonymous tip Monday that a body was being stored outside the home, Andover Township police Chief Eric Danielson said Thursday.

When police arrived, he said, the body wasn’t where the tipster had said it was — but they found 13 bodies inside. They were removed Monday night and taken to a hospital in a refrigerated truck.

The New Jersey Herald first reported the finding of the bodies, which followed the discovery of five bodies at the home Sunday after complaints from staff and family members to law enforcement.

Nineteen of the home’s 35 residents who have died since March 30 had the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said.

Of more than 500 residents listed as of Wednesday, 103 had tested positive, and more than 100 more had symptoms. Fiftytwo staff members at the facility also showed symptoms.

Local health officials visited Sunday after the state health department received word the facility needed body bags, Persichilli said.

On Tuesday, health officials reported that the Andover Township facility was understaffed.

In an email Thursday, co-owner Chaim Scheinbaum argued that staffing was adequate but that an extraordinary number of deaths had overwhelmed the facility’s resources.

Gov. Phil Murphy said at a news briefing Thursday that he has asked the state attorney general to look into what happened there, as well as at any other nursing homes that have had many deaths.