MAKESHIFT MORGUE
Second temporary morgue is built in London as 759 die from coronavirus in capital
A SECOND temporary morgue is being built in London as 759 people were killed by coronavirus in the capital.
The makeshift mortuary is being built on Wanstead Flats in Manor Park in East London.
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Building work started yesterday with fences being erected around the 334-acre site – just 11 miles from capital’s first Covid-19 morgue in Westminster.
The new facility will be used as a holding place before a burial or cremation can take place.
However, relatives of the deceased will not be allowed to visit.
MAKESHIFT MORGUE
It is believed the mortuary will be ready to use within a few weeks and comes at a time when the death toll in Britain hit 2,392 – with a further 29,000 being infected.
Mayor of Newham, Rokhsana Fiaz, said: "The facility will act as a holding point before a respectful and dignified cremation or burial can take place to send a loved one on their final journey."
The vast site is owned by the City of London Corporation and is near the City of London Cemetery and Crematorium.
The facility will act as a holding point before a respectful and dignified cremation or burial can take place to send a loved one on their final journey.
Mayor of Newham
It will be managed by the London Resilience Forum who are responsible for its design, build and operation.
It is not known how many bodies the mortuary will be able to hold.
The new morgue comes just two weeks after a huge mobile mortuary was set up in Westminster to cope with the number of bodies from the coronavirus pandemic.
DEADLY BUG
Westminster Public Mortuary has space for 102 bodies, but the expanded tent set up will see this almost doubled - as London becomes the worst hit.
The new site is just five miles from London’s ExCel centre, the Army is creating an enormous makeshift hospital to fight coronavirus.
Together with the NHS, the Ministry of Defence is rapidly creating the 4,000 bed-capacity NHS Nightingale in the capital.
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It comes after the UK coronavirus death rate has shot up by another 50 per cent today - after 563 people died in a single day.
The total number of patients who have died in hospital after testing positive for coronavirus has gone up from 1,789 to 2,352.
That is the biggest day-on-day increase for the second day running. 759 coronavirus deaths were in London.
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