FEMA Orders 100K Body Bags In Preparation For ‘Worst-Case Scenario’

The feds are now preparing for a worst-case scenario as the coronavirus pandemic continues to unleash its wrath on the United States. In a Wall Street Journal report Wednesday, FEMA officials said they had ordered 100,000 new body bags to help deal with a severe possible outcome.

The order for “human remains pouches” was placed by FEMA last week and is on top of a previous order of an initial 100,000 body bags. This came about as health officials expect the death toll in the US to reach 60,000 by Thursday.

Thousands Of Body Bags

Wall Street Journal reported that the total cost of 100,000 ‘human remains pouches’ or body bags is around $5.1 million, with the order placed on April 21, citing federal contracting databases. According to the contracting data, the supplier is a small company in California that is expected to deliver the ordered bags by Monday.

When asked by the Journal about the huge order, a spokeswoman for the FEMA said the agency is currently focused on a “worst possible case national scenario.” According to the spokeswoman, FEMA has initiated a broad array of acquisition contracts to supplement available stocks and have more human-remains pouches in case they are needed in the future.

Distributed To Hotspots Across The US

The Defense Department has revealed that FEMA had also requested them to provide the federal agency with 100,000 human-remains pouches for civilian use. According to the agency, the recent purchase of FEMA is separate from that request as they have already distributed the DOD body bags to hotspots across America.

The spokeswoman from FEMA said that the new orders are preparations in case COVID-19 returns by fall or to be used in any other disaster. Six weeks ago, FEMA took over the reins of the COVID-19 pandemic response from the US Health and Human Services. Since then, the agency has signed over a hundred contracts for things like personal protective equipment, coronavirus test kits, and diapers for food banks.

More Lives Lost Than the Vietnam War

On Monday, President Trump said he expects the coronavirus pandemic could cost anywhere between 60,000 and 70,000 US lives. Reports say that to date, more people have now died in the US, resulting from virus infection compared to American lives lost during the Vietnam War.

Despite the dire warning of US health officials, some state governors are already planning on reopening economies in their respective states. Scientists say that scrapping lockdown measures too soon might give rise to new waves of COVID-19 infections. Health experts say the US can only declare victory over the deadly disease when an effective vaccine is developed and made available for everyone.