Overwhelmed by Omicron, Hong Kong Runs Out of Space for Its Dead

March 21, 2022

(Wall Street Journal) – People are dying from Covid-19 in Hong Kong at a rate that surpasses most of the world’s worst pandemic peaks, with almost 300 deaths a day overwhelming the city’s ability to cope. Officials have deployed makeshift refrigerators to store bagged bodies that had been piling up in the crowded corridors of public hospitals. Crematoria work around the clock and coffins are running short. Authorities have placed 50 repurposed storage containers in a parking deck near an overflowing public mortuary to house 2,300 bodies. Because victims died from an infectious disease, grieving relatives are unable to claim their dead to dress and embalm them for funerals, where traditionally they are laid out in open caskets so mourners can pay their respects. (Read More)