Temporary Mortuaries Set Up to Cope With Expected Rise in Virus Deaths

Published on: 8 Apr, 2020
Updated on: 10 Apr, 2020

The University of Surrey’s vet school .

Surrey County Council is setting up two temporary mortuaries; one in the pathology centre at the University of Surrey’s vet school in Guildford and the other at the Surrey Fire & Rescue Service’s headquarters in Reigate.

These are to cope with the expected rise in coronavirus death, the council said, and will ensure the deceased are treated with dignity and respect. The sites were arranged by the Surrey Local Resilience Forum, which is committed to maintaining the bereaved will be supported and treated with care and compassion, and their wishes respected wherever possible.

The announcement was soon followed by new figures showing that another 936 virus-associated deaths had been reported in the UK, 828 of them in England.