LA County Air Quality Regulations Lifted To Allow More Cremations As COVID-19 Deaths Surge
As COVID-19 deaths surge in LA County, air quality regulations have since been lifted to allow for more cremations and aid in the “backlog” caused by the pandemic.
While permits for crematoriums usually have limits on the number of human remains they can cremate each month — due to the potential impact they have on air quality — on Sunday (Jan. 17), the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) released an emergency order to temporarily suspend said limits.
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The South Coast AQMD said, “The current rate of death is more than double that of pre-pandemic years, leading to hospitals, funeral homes, and crematoriums exceeding capacity without the ability to process the backlog of cases” The news arrives as the county’s health officials reported on Sunday that the region has surpassed one million coronavirus cases with13, 848 reported deaths since the pandemic’s start. more than 7,400 people remain hospitalized with the virus, with 23 percent of them in the ICU.
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