The agency that regulates Southland air quality has suspended limits for cremations as the region faces a growing backlog of bodies from the surge in COVID-19 deaths.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) issued the temporary emergency order on Sunday, noting that as of Friday more than 2,700 bodies were being stored at hospitals and the Los Angeles County Coroner’s office.
The AQMD sets monthly limits on the amount of human remains that can be burned in the county’s 28 crematories, but the backlog has become a threat to public health, the agency said.
“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 agency noted.
The order will be in effect for at least 10 days.
Local morgues and crematoriums have been seeing a record number of cases as the number of those who have died from COVID-19 mounts. In some cases, morticians are seeing multiple people from the same family.
Earlier this month, thick, black smoke could be seen billowing from a North Long Beach crematory.
As of Friday, Long Beach has seen 520 deaths from COVID-19, while Los Angeles County as of Sunday reported a total of 1,014,662 cases and 13,848 fatalities.
Long Beach has reported 179 deaths, more than 34% of the city’s total, just in the past three weeks.