Orange County Medical Examiner’s Office steps in to help hospitals with space for COVID-19 deceased

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — As Central Florida hospitals have more deceased victims than they can handle and more than a dozen federally funded portable morgues make their way here, the Orange County Medical Examiner’s Office is also helping out.

“We were able to provide some space for both AdventHealth and Orlando Health for temporary storage of some of the deceased,” said Danny Banks, public safety director for Orange County. “We’ll continue working with them throughout this week to provide some of those resources as they need them.”

READ: AdventHealth morgues reach capacity due to COVID-19 deaths

Over the weekend, Orange County reported 34 COVID-19 deaths.

Hospitals are getting some relief as the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations come down, but County Health Officer Dr. Raul Pino said that’s partly because so many people are dying.

READ: More than a dozen portable morgues coming to Central Florida after hospital units reach capacity

“Any discharge from the hospital increases your inventory,” he said. “And there’s two ways to discharge from a hospital: You get better or you die.”

So far in August, 107 people have died from COVID-19 in Orange County.

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VIDEO: More than a dozen portable morgues heading to Central Florida due to influx in COVID-19 deaths Fourteen federally funded portable morgue cooler units are heading to Central Florida hospitals in the next few days.