As COVID-19 deaths surge, Los Angeles County lifts limit on number of cremations
By Mary Stringini article
SANTA MONICA, CA - DECEMBER 15: A patient surved a code blue and then was rushed to ICU to be intubated and be placed on a ventalator inside Providence Saint John s Health Center on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020 in Santa Monica, CA. They have expanded their
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LOS ANGELES - As the COVID-19 death rate in Los Angeles County continues to climb, county officials have issued an emergency order lifting environmental limits on the number of cremations that can be performed every month.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District issued a statement Sunday, announcing the emergency order, which temporarily suspends certain permit conditions for crematories in the county to assist with the backlog caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the order relieves some of the strain on Nunally and Eternal Valley, the general manager explained that it did not necessarily solve the problem as a whole.
“It’s a huge strain on the whole system,” Nunally said. “(The order) does not necessarily speed things up until the very end.”
Nunally went on to describe two main “bottlenecks” that were placing the most strain on Eternal Valley: storage and manpower.
“Our biggest concern right now is just storage,” he said. “There are many cases in hospitals right now that we can not pick up because we just don’t have the space.”
On Sunday, officials with the South Coast Air Quality Management District (South Coast AQMD) issued an Emergency Order to temporarily suspend limits on the number of cremations that can take place each month in Los Angeles County to assist with the backlog caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s astronomically higher than we’ve ever seen,” said Richard Nunally, general manager for Eternal Valley Memorial Park in Newhall, in a previous KHTS story.
The South Coast AQMD issues permits for crematoriums that contain limits on the number of human remains that may be cremated each month, based on potential air quality impacts.