The Ministry of Health of the Altai Territory explained the accumulation of bodies of deceased patients in one of the basements of a hospital in Barnaul, which works at the base of a hospital reoriented to treat patients with coronavirus. The ministry said the bodies are being stored in the basement due to a shortage of pathologists and an increase in the workload due to an increase in the number of infections and deaths.
It is noted that there are not enough doctors, and pathological studies need to be done. There are also not enough cameras, so the bodies had to be stored in the basement. “Also, the emergence of this problem is facilitated by the refusal of relatives to timely receive bodies for burial due to the closure of the ritual halls and in connection with the family’s quarantine measures, including as a result of contact with the deceased,” the message says.
Officials stressed that initially the hospital was designed for 360 beds, but then this number was increased to 600. Several doctors at the hospital also fell ill with coronavirus, among them the head physician and his deputy. A total of 98 people died in the hospital in October.