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Police in the United States, acting on an anonymous tip, have found more than a dozen bodies piled up at a nursing home in New Jersey.
Key points:
- At least 17 bodies were found inside a nursing home morgue, after police received an anonymous tip-off
- The nursing home has recorded 26 deaths relating to COVID-19
- The state will conduct a review in all long-term care facilities that have experienced a disproportionate number of deaths during the COVID outbreak
The bodies were found in a small morgue at the Andover Subacute and Rehabilitation Centres over two days, where they were being held until they could be picked up by a funeral home.
A number of news outlets, including The New York Times, said 17 bodies were found while others, including the Associated Press, reported 18.
Police had been responding to a tip-off that a body was being stored in a shed, The New York Times reported.
"They were just overwhelmed by the amount of people who were expiring," Eric C Danielson, the town's chief of police, told The New York Times.
The state's Governor, Phil Murphy, said he was "heartbroken" and "outraged" at what happened and said people in New Jersey long-term care facilities deserved better.
"I am heartbroken by the tragic news that several individuals have lost their lives in a coronavirus outbreak at the Andover Sub-Acute and Rehabilitation Centre 1 and 2," Mr Murphy said.
"I pray for the health and recovery of the other residents and employees devastated by COVID-19.
"I am also outraged that bodies of the dead were allowed to pile up in a makeshift morgue at the facility.
"I've asked the Attorney General to look into this matter as well as to do a review of all long-term care facilities that have experienced a disproportionate number of deaths during the COVID outbreak, and I know he will take any and all appropriate action."
In a statement Sussex County said it had reported an outbreak of COVID-19 at the facility to the State Health Department on March 29.
So far there have been 26 deaths related to COVID-19 at the facility.
What the experts are saying about coronavirus:
New York death toll drops
Across the border New York, the most lethal hot spot in the US, reported more encouraging signs, with a drop in the daily number of deaths statewide and the overall count of people in the hospital.
"We've controlled the beast," Governor Andrew Cuomo said.
Still, Mr Cuomo extended the state's lockdown through at least May 15. More than 12,000 people have died in New York State from COVID-19.
New York City is lining up 11,000 empty hotel rooms to quarantine people living in crowded apartment buildings.
ABC/AP
Topics: health, diseases-and-disorders, infectious-diseases-other, covid-19, united-states
First posted