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Pile of bodies linked to coronavirus found at US nursing home

News Desk (Agence France-Presse)
New York, United States
Fri, April 17, 2020

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Pile of bodies linked to coronavirus found at US nursing home Medical workers load a deceased body into an ambulance while wearing masks and personal protective equipment (PPE) at Andover Subacute and Rehabilitation Center on April 16, 2020 in Andover, New Jersey. After an anonymous tip to police, 17 people were found dead at the long-term care facility, including two nurses, where at least 76 patients and 41 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19. (Getty Images via AFP/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

U

S police found 17 bodies piled up in a nursing home morgue in New Jersey, media reported Thursday, highlighting how the coronavirus outbreak is overwhelming long-term care facilities.

Officers in the small locality of Andover, around 80 kilometers west of New York City, discovered the bodies following an anonymous tip-off, according to The New York Times.

The discovery came on Monday at the Andover Subacute and Rehabilitation Unit -- one of the largest care homes in New Jersey, a state badly hit by coronavirus.

The cause of death of the 17 has not been confirmed but 68 people have recently died at the facility, and 26 of those tested positive for COVID-19, the Times reported.

Police did not confirm the number of bodies found. 

But in a statement posted on the Andover police Facebook page, one of the home's owners, Chaim Scheinbaum, said the morgue, which normally houses four bodies, "never had more than 15 present" on Monday.

"The staff was clearly overwhelmed and probably short-staffed," Andover Police Chief Eric Danielson told CNN.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said he was "outraged" that bodies had been allowed to pile up and ordered an investigation.

COVID-19 has killed more than 32,000 people across the United States, according to Johns Hopkins University, with New Jersey the worst-hit state after New York.

The outbreak has reportedly claimed thousands of lives in retirement homes, spotlighting how vulnerable the elderly are to the illness.

 

 

 

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