Health
New Jersey Police Discover 17 Bodies Inside Morgue Designed for Four
New Jersey police found 17 bodies piled up in a tiny morgue inside a nursing home on Monday. Before that, they received a tip about a corpse found in a shed outside the facility. The police discovered the bodies at the Andover Subacute and Rehabilitation Center I and II in Sussex County.
Overwhelmed
The morgue only had the capacity for a maximum of four people. The facility “has been ravaged by the coronavirus,” according to Fox News. “26 of the 68 people who have recently died there in its two buildings reportedly tested positive for the sickness.”
Andover Police Chief Eric Danielson said: “They were just overwhelmed by the amount of people who were expiring.”
Danielson said that then, the authorities in New Jersey had moved 13 of the 17 discovered bodies to a refrigerated truck outside a hospital in nearby Newton, as reported by The New York Times. “A funeral home had made arrangements to pick up the other four,” said the report.
After Anonymous Tip, 17 Bodies Found at Nursing Home Hit by Virus https://t.co/cAuLJ91hrz
— Yashar Ali 🐘 یاشار (@yashar) April 16, 2020
According to reports, authorities do not have confirmation as to which of the 17 deaths were caused by COVID-19. Among the remaining people in the facilities, 76 patients and 41 staff members reportedly have the illness.
“The challenge we’re having with all of these nursing homes, is once it spreads, it’s like a wildfire,” said Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J. “It’s very hard to stop it.”
The New York Times reported that even before the pandemic, the nursing home had struggled. “Andover Subacute and Rehabilitation II recently got a one-star rating of ‘much below average’ from Medicare for staffing levels, inspections and patient care,” said the report.
“I feel so helpless,” wrote one woman who started a group for family members. “I feel like everyone is going to get Covid. What do we do?” she then added.
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