Brooklyn BP Adams says overwhelmed morgues not handing bodies respectfully

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams says morgues that are overwhelmed amid the COVID-19 crisis are not handling bodies respectfully, and he's calling for action.

News 12 Staff

Apr 26, 2020, 9:39 PM

Updated 1,468 days ago

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Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams says morgues that are overwhelmed amid the COVID-19 crisis are not handling bodies respectfully, and he's calling for action.
Adams was outside of the Medical Examiner’s Office to ask city and state leaders to step in and deal with how the bodies are being stored.
Adams says he wants the morgues to stay open for longer - until midnight and on weekends - to allow funeral directors more time to move bodies.
He's also demanding that temporary morgues be outfitted with shelves and lighting so bodies can be easily identified and found.
The borough president is also calling for the city to increase funding to help families with funeral costs, saying many are out of jobs and shouldn't be burdened even more after losing a loved one.
News 12 reached out to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office and Mayor Bill de Blasio's office for comment.  The mayor's office issued a statement saying they, "have daily calls with hospitals to reiterate best practices and offer (their) assistance through these challenges times. in these calls, (they) have encouraged hospitals to expand their pickup hours to the furthest extent possible to accommodate the needs of funeral directors..."
They went on to say that they have "also provided clear instructions on how to install shelving in mobile morgue units."
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