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Rural Pennsylvania struggles to cope with COVID-19 surge By OONA GOODIN-SMITH, JASON NARK, DYLAN PURCELL and TIM TAI, The Philadelphia InquirerJanuary 9, 2021 GMT PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The phone rang over the gurgle of embalming fluid as Geoff Burke wearily eyed the corpse of the woman on the gurney. Another victim of the coronavirus, she’d have to wait. On the phone, a nurse delivered the news: body pickup needed. Passing the cremation oven, still hot from the morning’s use, Burke changed from his plastic embalming apron to a necktie and collared shirt as Sunday football commentators ban...

In rural Pa., largely untouched by COVID-19 in the spring, deaths are now surging: ‘It’s just scary’ Oona Goodin-Smith, Jason Nark, Dylan Purcell, Tim Tai, The Philadelphia Inquirer © TIM TAI/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS Funeral director Geoff Burke stands at Heller-Hoenstine Funeral Home in Lewistown, Pa., on Sunday, Dec. 20, 2020. Burke is busier than ever as COVID-19 deaths surge across rural Pennsylvania. LEWISTOWN, Pa. — The phone rang over the gurgle of embalming fluid as Geoff Burke wearily eyed the corpse of the woman on the gurney. Another victim of the co...