Bend (US), Aug 29 (AP) Oregon's emergency management department says the state's death toll from COVID-19 is climbing so rapidly that two counties have requested refrigerated trucks to hold the bodies.

Department spokeswoman Bobbi Doan said Saturday that Tillamook County, on Oregon's northwest coast, and Josephine County, in the southwest, have requested the trucks.

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Tillamook County Emergency Director Gordon McCraw wrote in his request to the state that the county's sole funeral home “is now consistently at or exceeding their capacity” of nine bodies. He added that virus cases among staff have made them unable to transport bodies to other counties.

The refrigerated truck arrived in the county on Friday, loaned by Klamath County, Doan said in a telephone interview.

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The Tillamook County Board of Commissioners says there were six COVID-19 deaths in the county from August 18 to August 23, surpassing the five total COVID-19 deaths that occurred during the first 18 months of the pandemic. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)