KEY POINTS

  • A total of $380,000 was approved by the County Council for the morgue’s budget
  • The coroner’s office has been using a local cemetery’s cooler for storing bodies
  • St. Joseph County is in the red category of Indiana’s COVID metrics map

One county in northern Indiana is considering the possibility of spending some of its federal COVID-19 relief funds on constructing a county morgue amid a surge in new infections.

The St. Joseph County Council approved a total of $380,000 from the COVID-19 relief package to be allocated for the county coroner to purchase and renovate a space that will become the county morgue, the South Bend Tribune reported.

From the said amount, $62,000 will be designated for equipment and $118,000 for facility improvements. The county’s coroners have complained about the lack of a morgue for securing bodies for more than 10 years. Coroners have also argued the lack of a designated place for conducting local autopsies.

For coroner Dr. Patricia Jordan, what’s more important is to provide St. Joseph County families with a comfortable space for viewing their deceased loved ones. “The real reason I would like to have a morgue here is to have a warm place for families to ID their loved ones. We’re trying to make the most unpleasant day in a person’s life somewhat palatable,” she explained.

Jordan also pointed out the need for a morgue that should improve safety among St. Joseph County residents. “We’ve been having a slew of COVID deaths, and those bodies are contagious,” she said.

The coroner’s office has been using a cooler at a local cemetery for storing six or seven bodies. Furthermore, the county sends bodies to either Fort Wayne or Kalamazoo for autopsies. Jordan hopes talks about holding autopsies in the county will resume once a morgue is constructed.

News of the plans for a county morgue came as St. Joseph remains in the red category on the state’s COVID metrics map. In mid-November, the county was in the level orange category, WBND-LD reported.

The outlet further reported that the county has since seen a significant spike in new cases after the holiday weekend. Indiana’s COVID metrics map also noted that St. Joseph County’s 7-day test positivity rate is currently at 24.58%, with the positivity trend going up.

Indiana has so far reported 1,425,877 COVID-19 cases and 20,226 deaths, according to worldometer data.

In the hospital's morgue, rows of bodies in black plastic bags testify to the deadly surge in infections
In the hospital's morgue, rows of bodies in black plastic bags testify to the deadly surge in infections AFP / Sergei SUPINSKY
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