Sheriff: ‘We are prepared for the worstcase scenario’
In an announcement celebrating the arrival of a COVID-19 vaccine, Gov. Gavin Newsom took the time to acknowledge the grim reality we still face as increasing death tolls stress morgues across the state.
During a news conference on Tuesday, Newsom acknowledged the state is “in the most acute peak” of the pandemic and is experiencing record deaths. In the past seven days, an average of 163 Californians died each day, compared with 41 on Nov. 14.
“We lost 142 people in the last 24 hours,” Newsom said. “I want to remind folks, it’s not the flu. This is not something to be trifled with. This is a deadly disease, a deadly pandemic and we’re in the middle of it right now.”
In response to the growing death toll, Newsom said the state activated its Coroner’s Mutual Aid and Mass Fatality program and ordered 60 refrigerated trucks along with additional 5,000 body bags.
“The state office of emergency services has had mutual aid systems in place for years regarding mass casualty incidents,” said Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal in an email to the Times- Standard. “The state Sheriff- Coroners work great together to fill these needs throughout the state. I am happy that the state recognizes the need to be prepared and respond to these emergencies.”
Honsal said the county did not request additional refrigeration trucks from the state as the sheriff’s office already has two refrigeration trailers to serve as a temporary morgue in the event of a mass casualty incident. Each refrigeration trailer can store up to 50 bodies, he said.
“The trailers belong to the sheriff’s office but are a regional asset that we have to provide to any jurisdiction (through a mutual aid request) that might need the use of a temporary morgue,” Honsal said. “Our coroner’s office reviewed the potential of having our morgue over its capacity. Due to this potential, we secured two refrigerator trailers several months ago.”
Honsal said the county is adequately prepared for “the worst-case scenario” and did not request additional refrigeration trucks from the state.
“Our death rate this year has been virtually the same as last year. We have not had any capacity issues with our local morgues in 2020,” Honsal said. “The sheriff’s office has the capacity of 25-30 in our morgue and between the other mortuary’s in the area, we can store up to 50.”
Honsal said the coroner’s office has “several hundred” body bags on hand, along with a significant supply from local hospitals and mortuaries.
“We do not believe we will capacity issues here in Humboldt County,” he said.
Humboldt County Emergency Services Manager
Ryan Derby noted that additional resources allocated across the state will help Humboldt County retain its supply.
“Resources being made available to all 58 California counties decreases the likelihood of other counties requesting resource support from Humboldt County,” Derby said. “This allows us to maintain our current inventory in preparation for future local needs. The Humboldt County Coroner’s Office is not currently at risk of overflowing and there are no outstanding requests for mass fatality resources at this time.”