Minnesota has purchased the Bix Produce Co.’s former cold storage facility in St. Paul for an emergency morgue, bracing for a peak in COVID-19 deaths that could strain morgues and funeral homes. In a deal that closed Monday, the state paid $5.5 million for the grocery distribution warehouse and land; operating costs and improvements to ready the building for its new purpose will bring the total to $6.9 million. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is expected to pick up about three-quarters of the cost. The state has not experienced the horrific backups that have plagued hard-hit areas such as New York City, where bodies piled up at morgues and funeral homes. Responding to odor complaints, police in Brooklyn last month discovered several dozen decomposing bodies stashed inside two trucks outside one overwhelmed funeral home. Still, deaths from COVID-19 have not yet peaked in Minnesota.
— source startribune.com | May 20, 2020