BATON ROUGE, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – The State of Louisiana is looking for contractors to handle mass fatality services in the event they become necessary if COVID-19 cases spike even higher.
“The State of Louisiana continues to experience a significant spike in COVID-19 positive cases, that may impact the availability of local morgues and funeral homes to provide the transport and storage of human remains throughout the State,” according to a Request for Quotes issued by the state Thursday.
“Should one or more of Louisiana’s parishes/regions become overwhelmed with the number of human remains that require temporary refrigerated storage, Louisiana Department of Health (LDH), Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) and other state agencies may have to establish a temporary storage site(s).”
The contractor will be retained by the state to design, establish, and manage those sites in every region, where bodies can be stored in 53′ refrigerated trailers that will be contracted by the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. They also must be prepared to be at the designated site within 24 hours of activation by the state.
While Louisiana is starting to see some recovery from a surge in cases following the holidays, Gov. John Bel Edwards noted Thursday that the state has recorded more than 1,000 deaths over the past three weeks. Edwards and State Health Officer Dr. Joseph Kanter also expressed serious concerns about another surge in cases that could be driven by the new, more transmissible variants of the coronavirus showing up across the country and in Louisiana.
Two new cases of the UK variant, SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7, have been confirmed in Southwest Louisiana, bringing the state’s total number of confirmed cases of the B.1.1.7 variant to five — two identified in Region 1 (Greater New Orleans) and three identified in Region 5 (Southwest Louisiana).
“What we are nervous about is this variant,” Kanter said. “It’s hitting us at a time when we’re just recovering from big spike from Christmas and New Year’s. Our ability to detect the variant pales in comparison to how widespread it probably is.”
In fact, Kanter said, the variant is likely already spreading in other areas of the state, and “there is a very good likelihood we’ll have an additional surge before we’re able to achieve immunity.”
On top of that, Edwards said, is the risk posed by more holiday-like gatherings for the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras.
“I’ve very concerned about what we’re already seeing on Bourbon Street,” Edwards said. “Quite frankly, it’s irresponsible, it’s selfish. We’re better than that. We need to do better. I have no doubt it will lead to another surge if we don’t get it under control very quickly.”
There have been a total of 408,995 cases reported statewide since the pandemic began, according to the latest update on the LDH COVID-19 dashboard. The state says 844 of the 2,758 new cases reported Thursday are from a backlog dating as far back as October 22.
The state surpassed the 9,000-mark in deaths on Wednesday, noting that “more people have died from COVID 19 in Louisiana since March 9, 2020 than there are people living in the entire city of Carencro.” Thirty-eight more deaths were reported Thursday, bringing the total to 9,044.