High daily death taxes put infrastructure in the Czech Republic under pressure, with the country’s largest crematorium struggling to keep up with staggering numbers of pandemic victims, according to the Associated Press.
The U.S. headquarters news agency reports that the crematorium, in the northeastern city of Ostrava, receives more than 100 coffins per day, about twice the maximum cremation capacity.
On Thursday, the AP said, cars from funeral companies handed out barrels every few minutes, some with “COVID” written on them.
The Czech Republic, a country of 10.7 million has recorded 794,740 cases of coronavirus and 12,621 deaths from Covid-19. November was the deadliest month, with 4,937 dead.
He was saved as the worst of the pandemic in the spring only to see his healthcare system collapse in the fall, around the time the spike started. It was hit hard again with new infections reaching a record high of 17,668 on Wednesday, a record set for the second straight day.
At the Ostrava crematorium, the three cremation chambers worked around the clock, and the storage capacity of the barrels was again increased. Katerina Sebestova, deputy mayor of Ostrava, said:
It is an exceptional situation. Nobody here remembers anything like that. This is simply because there are 60% more deaths than we had a year ago. Therefore, we need to address storage capacity and cremation capacity.
Cremation director Ivo Furmancik said up to 1,000 bodies were cremated each month in Ostrava before the pandemic struck. The number rose to 1,550 in November and 1,570 in December following an increase at the end of October. A new rise in diseases in the country is likely to lead to another increase in the demand for cremation. Furmancik said:
For two and a half months we have been working non-stop and non-stop for maintenance. So, this is not a very best situation. How long can this last? I am concerned that, with this intense practice, the landlords could do great damage at any time. “