Report: Coronavirus Leads to Coffin Shortage in Hong Kong

Just 300 coffins remained in the city of Hong Kong as of Thursday, a funeral industry representative told local media, adding the commodity’s scarcity was due to Hong Kong’s surging death rate from the Chinese coronavirus in recent weeks.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) relayed news of Hong Kong’s coffin shortage on March 17, revealing the city’s remaining 300 coffins were “expected to be gone by the weekend.”

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam told reporters on March 16, her administration expected Hong Kong to receive two shipments of coffins from China in the coming days to reinforce the city’s dwindling supply.

“I learned from the Food and Health Bureau last night that they are endeavoring to arrange transportation [of coffins] by water,” she said when asked about the matter at a regular press conference.

Hong Kong health officials have documented about 4,600 deaths from the Chinese coronavirus since December 2021, when the city’s latest epidemic of the disease began. The outbreak has caused roughly one million infections of the Chinese coronavirus among the city’s population of 7.4 million over the past three months.

AFP on March 16 reported Hong Kong morgues were “running out of space” due to the city’s increased deaths from the Chinese coronavirus.

“Workers in PPE [personal protective equipment] gear in Hong Kong carted the bodies of coronavirus victims into refrigerated shipping containers on Wednesday, as the city’s morgues run out of space from a deadly Omicron surge,” according to the news agency.

Hong Kong is suffering from “a spike in death cases during the current Covid [Chinese coronavirus] outbreak,” Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) acknowledged on March 17.

The report by RTHK, Hong Kong’s only public broadcaster, served as a notable admission from the city’s government that it was struggling to contain Hong Kong’s latest resurgence of the disease.

RTHK revealed on Thursday Hong Kong’s Department of Health was devising ways to “speed up” it is processing of corpses to keep up with a surge in deaths due to the Chinese coronavirus.

“Currently, the bodies of patients who passed away at accident and emergency departments of hospitals have to be transferred to public mortuaries for the department to handle, and all cases need to be reported to the Coroner,” according to the broadcaster.

This government-mandated protocol has taken “longer than usual” since the beginning of March because “more patients died” across accident and emergency departments of public hospitals, also allegedly due to the Chinese coronavirus, RTHK revealed.

“The DH’s forensic pathology service has increased manpower, and has deliberated with the police and the Coroner’s Court to devise measures to facilitate the next-of-kin to identify body and handle after-death arrangements in a timely manner,” unnamed Hong Kong government officials told the broadcaster.