Inmates from the El Paso County jail are assisting the county medical examiner’s office as it manages a recent spike in coronavirus-related deaths.
The inmates were seen at the Medical Examiner’s office in full PPE gear on Friday, working near the mobile morgues and inside the building, KTSM-TV reported.
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The television station posted photos of inmates in black-and-gray striped jumpsuits outside the medical examiner’s office. The prisoners were “helping them there,” KTSM-TV quoted an El Paso County Sheriff’s department spokesperson as saying.
El Paso County Detention Center inmates are now tasked with helping move bodies at the El Paso Medical Examiner's Office.
— KTSM 9 News (@KTSMtv) November 14, 2020
GRAPHIC WARNING: The photos may be graphic to many viewers. Discretion is advised. https://t.co/4vNZdC7DrV
Ten mobile morgues are set up at the Medical Examiner’s office to help accommodate the recent surge of COVID-19 fatalities in the county, KTSM-TV reported.
The county health department Saturday announced 1,512 new COVID-19 cases, a 7-day average of 1,437 new cases per day and a total of 72,238 cases since the pandemic began, the Associated Press reported. There were 15 additional deaths for a total of 756 and 1,091 people hospitalized with the virus.