Amid a new Covid-19 surge in the United States, Florida is going through a major crisis as hospitals and funeral homes are running out of space for bodies. Many hospitals have started reporting about medical Oxygen shortage. If medical Oxygen is not arranged, the state could see many avoidable deaths.
“In Florida, crematories are so overwhelmed with the deceased that bodies are “stacked to the ceiling”. There’s an influx of bodies like never seen before—worse than last year. Crematoriums in Orange County are begging for Florida to “supply some refrigeration””, epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding posted on Twitter.
The United States is seeing a spike in cases mainly due to the highly contagious delta variant. The total number of people hospitalised due to the virus in the United States at present has crossed 1 lakh on Thursday (August 26). This is the highest number so far this year. The country saw a 12 percent increase in new cases over the past week, but deaths were up 23 percent.
In Orange County region of Florida, non-profit health organisation AdventHealth, which operates the largest hospital system in the Orange Country region, reached capacity at its morgues.
“These coolers are quickly becoming filled also”, WFTV9 quoted a staff.
Florida Hospital Association, in its survey, found that 68 hospitals in the state had oxygen supplies of fewer than 48 hours, with almost half having supplies of less than 36 hours.
Orlando city mayor requested residents to conserve water so that there is less strain on supply of liquid Oxygen because it is used to purify local drinking water as well as to treat Covid patients.
