Lancaster County could use a trailer to store bodies of COVID-19 victims

Lancaster County officials are securing a trailer that would be used to store the bodies of COVID-19 victims. 

Lancaster County officials are securing a trailer that could be used to store the bodies of COVID-19 victims.

District 1 Commissioner Sean Flowerday told Channel 8 Eyewitness News the county has entered into a contract with Crete Carrier Corp. to lease a 53-foot refrigerated trailer.

The trailer would serve as a makeshift morgue, should a surge in coronavirus deaths occur that overloads the morgue and a pop-up structure that currently serves as a backup.

If used to store human remains, Lancaster County would be on the hook to pay $65,000 for the trailer – a small portion the county budget.

“It’s obviously a very dramatic thing to talk about,” Flowerday said.

It’s not the first time county officials have discussed such an option. A similar situation occurred in 2003 during the spread of SARS, Flowerday said.

Flowerday stressed the agreement for the trailer is only being pursued as an extremely precautionary measure, and that he doesn’t expect it to ever see use.

“It’s better to have it and not need it,” he said.

To date, health officials have reported only one coronavirus-related death in Lancaster County. Statewide, 20 deaths have been reported. State and local officials believe the ‘peak week’ for Lincoln and Nebraska to occur around the end of April.