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New Orleans has formed a “death care task force” as the hard-hit city grapples with the coronavirus killing residents at one of the highest rates in the nation, according to reports.
Mayor LaToya Cantrell announced the initiative Tuesday to ensure the proper handling of COVID-19 victims as funeral homes and morgues become inundated with corpses, NOLA.com reported.
“The COVID-19 outbreak has created a tragedy within a tragedy: Compromising the way our residents prepare their deceased love ones to be laid to rest, and share in their grief the way we’re accustomed to,” Cantrell said in a statement. “And it won’t get any easier.”
Cantrell said the “death care task force” is comprised of funeral home directors, coroners, cemetery directors, hospital officials, faith-based leaders and other stakeholders.
“We’d like to thank Mayor Cantrell for her leadership in gathering all of the key stakeholders, not just in New Orleans but across the region so that we can work collaboratively to inform our residents on the best practices during this outbreak,” the group said in a statement, according to news station WGNO.
The virus had spread to nearly 5,000 residents as of Wednesday morning, and had caused the deaths of at least 185, according to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University.
Gary Wagner, an economics professor at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, revealed last week that the parish of Orleans, which encompasses the Big Easy, saw a coronavirus death rate per capita double that of New York City, the Wall Street Journal reported.
New Orleans recorded a coronavirus death rate of 37.93 per 100,000 people as of Friday, while the Big Apple’s was 18.86, the report said.
