Container holding corpses at Hialeah funeral home raises fear of coronavirus spread
A refrigerated container being used to store bodies outside a funeral home in Hialeah has spurred concern that the deceased tested positive for COVID-19, prompting neighbors to stage a protest and demand that the city remove it.
“We went to the funeral home to ask about it and they told us that they were at capacity and that they had COVID-19 infected bodies that they were storing in that container,” said Liliana Vázquez Acosta, a neighbor of the funeral home located at 250 East Fourth Ave.
Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernández acknowledged remains were being stored but told the Miami Herald that “the refrigerated container does not have bodies from people who died of COVID-19.” He also said that the funeral home has the required permits to place the container on the property “to be able to handle the emergency.”
Maria Villatoro, vice president of operations at the San José Funeral Home, said that they could not confirm if any of corpses in the container died from coronavirus because they “are dealing with multiple causes of death” and “do not share the cause of death of any individual”.
Residents of the Los Portales community held a protest on Sunday outside the Funeral Home, which they said placed the container on the property on July 20.
Vázquez Acosta said the mayor’s office had not notified residents and many were especially concerned about children who use a terrace right next to the container.
Some also complained about the strong odor of chemicals released three to four times a day. “It’s dangerous because we don’t know enough about COVID-19 to say that we will not get sick. I don’t want it here,” Vázquez Acosta said.
Villatoro told the Miami Herald that “there are absolutely no odors”, citing that “multiple Health Inspectors, the Mayor, numerous Council members, as well as local police authorities have all visited multiple times and validated that these are totally unsubstantiated claims”.
Mayor Hernández said he was aware that “there are some neighbors complaining and I see why they don’t want to see that” but he added ”there is no health risk. The Health Department is real clear about that.”
Villatoro added they are working with the city to move the container to a location farther away from residents.
Vázquez Acosta said residents will continue to protest until that happens.
Funeral Homes run out of space in the city
The San José Funeral Home is not the only one struggling with storing corpses. Tightened restrictions due to the pandemic have created a backlog for burials.
“I’ve had to tell families that I can’t attend to them because I cannot overfill my refrigerator and I’m not going to put my employees at risk,” said José Arvelo, director at Funeraria Hialeah Memorial. He added that the demand for services has gone up but the funeral home is limited to storing 25 bodies.
This story was originally published July 27, 2020 at 5:49 PM.
