In Butte County, 83 people have died from COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.
Coroner and Sheriff Kory Honea says that the county’s network of mortuaries has been able to handle the number of deceased people thus far.
Should the system become overwhelmed, he says there are ways his office can increase capacity.
“Either through refrigerator trucks, which we’ve done in the past. That was something that we utilized during the Camp Fire. And in addition to that, there are portable storage units that you can bring in,” he said.
Honea noted contingency planning has been ongoing since the beginning of the pandemic. Gov. Gavin Newsomsaid last week that the state has a mass fatality program to support coroners.