CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) - St. Louis County will build a temporary morgue because of the increase in deaths due to the coronavirus.
County spokesman Doug Moore told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Monday that the facility is expected to open by the end of the week.
County Executive Sam Page discussed construction of the temporary morgue during a news conference on Monday and said his staff is working with faith leaders about how to handle bodies with dignity.
The county’s permanent morgue is a one-story building in Berkeley, with a capacity of 20 bodies. State law requires the county medical examiner to take charge of the bodies and investigate facts concerning the medical cause of some deaths, including those from a disease that is thought to be hazardous or contagious.
As of Sunday, 42 people in St. Louis County had died from infections caused by COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus.
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