Cooling units set up outside Dutch funeral homes to tackle rise in COVID-19 deaths

The Dutch funeral organisation, DELA has made the decision to set up extra cooling units outside of their funeral homes in order to keep up with the rise in coronavirus infections and deaths.

Speaking to RTL Nieuws, DELA spokeseman Martijn van de Koolwijk, explains that “it is one of the first measures when there is an oversupply of deceased bodies.”

Rising coronavirus infections and deaths

And why are Dutch funeral homes worried about too many bodies? The rising coronavirus infections and deaths. Koolwijk explains that this measure was also taken at the beginning of the year, when infection numbers were at yet another peak.

“At the beginning of the year, refrigerated containers were placed at funeral homes in 14 cities,” he says. “They were removed again when the number of infections and deaths decreased at the beginning of the summer.”

Now, the organisation has deemed it necessary to roll out the coolers once again with the units being added to funeral homes in Nijmegen, Leiden, Bilthoven, Geleen, Eindhoven Roermond Roosendaal, and Goes Den Bosch.

“It is one of the first measures that can be taken quickly,” Koolwijk says.

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Feature Image: Buurserstraat38/Depositphotos

Sarah O'Leary 🇮🇪
Sarah O'Leary 🇮🇪
Before becoming the Senior Editor of DutchReview, Sarah was a fresh-faced international looking to learn more about the Netherlands. Since moving here in 2017, Sarah has added a BA in English and Philosophy (Hons.), an MA in Literature (Hons.), and over three years of writing experience at DutchReview to her skillset. When Sarah isn't acting as a safety threat to herself and others (cycling), you can find her trying to sound witty while writing about some of the stickier topics such as mortgages and Dutch law.

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