Tillamook County asks for morgue truck as COVID fatalities rise

Leaders in the coastal Oregon county say they no longer have capacity to store the bodies of those who have died
Noting that the COVID delta variant “is spreading like wildfire among the unvaccinated in our community,” the leaders of an Oregon coastal county said Friday they no longer have capacity to store the bodies of those who have died and are asking the state for a refrigerated morgue truck.

“The spread of COVID in Tillamook County has reached a critical phase,” the county board of commissioners said in a statement. They said that from Aug. 18 to Aug. there were six new COVID-19 deaths in the county, surpassing the five total COVID-19 deaths that occurred during the first 18 months of the pandemic.

“That is six tragic deaths in six days. We grieve for our friends and neighbors and their families. We are so very sorry for your loss,” Commissioners Mary Faith Bell, David Yamamoto and Erin Skaar wrote.