A refrigerated mobile morgue was deployed to Texas Health Harris Methodist in Fort Worth on Tuesday, hospital officials say, as Tarrant County averages just under 15 COVID-19-related deaths per day.
Tarrant County Public Health reported eight COVID-19 deaths Tuesday, after tallying at 13 each day since Dec. 27 with the exception of New Year's Day, when new coronavirus data was not reported.
"This shows how serious the situation is and how important it is for everyone in the community to do their part to slow the transmission of the virus by wearing masks, washing their hands, socially distancing and avoiding large crowds," Texas Health Resources said in a statement.
The county reported 1,947 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday as adult ICU beds in the county remained 98% occupied, in addition to 86% occupancy of all hospital beds.
In early December, two large refrigerated trucks were parked outside the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's office to store bodies in the surge of coronavirus-related deaths.
The storage capacity inside the medical examiner's office is 100 bodies, and the number is currently at 85 or 90, longtime Tarrant County Medical Examiner Dr. Nizam Peerwani said on Dec. 9.
Deaths related to COVID-19 in El Paso surged in the fall and county officials turned to refrigerated trucks and the Texas National Guard to assist morgues with the dead.
