LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The death rate during the COVID-19 pandemic is so high in Los Angeles County that an emergency order has been issued lifting environmental limits on the number of cremations that can be performed every month.
Interesting development, there - I'd never realized that they had restrictions on cremations. I guess there's very little that they won't try to regulate in that part of the country.
The death rate in the region is double what it was before the pandemic, leading to a big backlog at hospitals, funeral homes and crematoriums, according to the South Coast Air Quality Management District. "The current rate of death is more than double that of pre-pandemic years, leading to hospitals, funeral homes, and crematoriums exceeding capacity without the ability to process the backlog of cases," the AQMD said.
It appears that they've been keeping corpses in coolers but have been running out of room. One would think that cremation would ease the space burdens for local cemeteries, as they've been running out of space as well. Besides, some folks keep cremains in urns at home, saving even more space.