As cadavers pile up, waiting time at morgues reaches 1 week

CEBU, Philippines —  In Cebu City, it’s not only hospitals that are scrambling to accommodate the living. Crematoriums are also struggling to accommodate the dead.

Already in this state before, the city has once again found itself in a situation where its cemeteries and crematoriums could not seem to keep up with the pace at which the bodies arrive.

The last time it experienced this was when it was tagged as the “epicenter of COVID-19” in the country back in July of 2020.

About a year after, Cebu City is fighting a third wave of infections that has left many understaffed hospitals calling for manpower reinforcement.

And the cadavers just continue to pile up.

According to the Emergency Operations Center yesterday, August 2, the next available date for cremation in the city’s crematoriums is August 8 or 9 yet.

“Problema nato ron, ang mga funeral parlors. Og naay mag-cremate karon, sa sunod semana pa na siya maatiman (Our problem now is our funeral parlors. When someone requests for cremation service now, it won’t be accommodated until after next week),” said EOC deputy chief implementer City Councilor Joel Garganera.

Aside from the pileup of cadavers, another factor that has contributed to the long wait is the fact that one crematorium is repairing its equipment at the moment.

This leads to another problem – where to store the cadavers.

Garganera said the city’s crematoriums do not have enough freezers to keep the bodies.

“They don't have the capability to store og daghang (a lot of) cadavers,” he said.

Garganera, however, said hospitals here have been coordinating with Mandaue City, which has a mortuary freezer for COVID-19 casualties.

Cebu City finished the month of July with 69 COVID-19 deaths, equaling the deaths recorded in March this year.

On the first day of August 2021, it logged five deaths already.

The 69 deaths noted in March and in July of this year are the fourth-highest monthly number since the pandemic hit Cebu.

In total, Cebu City has lost 947 lives due to COVID-19. Most of these deaths (367) were recorded in June of last year. That following month, July 2020, the city logged 174 fatalities, while it registered 80 May of that same year.

The year 2021 started with only 12 deaths in the city, but the number rose to 53 in February.

Deaths eased to 30 in April, and further lowered down to only 12 and 14 in May and June, respectively, before more than tripling again in July.

With this, Garganera reiterated the importance of getting vaccinated.

“Walay namatay nga nabakunahan (no one died for being vaccinated). Vaccine works,” he said.  — JMD (FREEMAN)