Remember when Ada County County bought a refrigerated trailer because the county morgue was running out of space? The purchase was heavily criticized by some who believe the move was unnecessary. Now Idaho funeral directors are facing the same crisis of not having enough space to store bodies before funeral services can be performed.    

The Washington Post reported that Idaho morgues are running out of space due to Covid deaths. The Post says the situation is so bad in Idaho because the state has failed to contain the virus and ranks next to last or last in vaccinations.  

How bad is it? The Post spoke with Robert Kim-Farley, an infectious-disease expert at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, who said.

"I anticipate that we'll see even more deaths coming in the near future because of the fact that cases are still increasing. It's going to get worse before it gets better."

 

The Washington Post is the latest national platform to profile Idaho's vaccination fight. You can read our coverage of the New York TimesABC News, and MSNBC's reporting on the Gem State. Recently, several members toured the local ICU beds detailing the challenging conditions described by the medical professionals.  

Funeral directors are calling their colleagues in hopes of finding a place to store bodies. Ada County Coroner Dottie Owens told the Post that the situation is so bad that her trailer has to take the bodies because they can't stay at the hospitals. She received a call last week from a local hospital looking for a place to store bodies.

Cloverdale Funeral Home in Boise purchased a 53-foot refrigerated trailer to help with the massive influx of bodies. Cloverdale's Dave Salove told the Post that he's determined to make sure no one's family member is left in a trailer.

The funeral crisis is another example of the dueling narratives in Idaho and across the country. Boise State University announced over the weekend that they would relax Covid standards for entrance to Saturday's game. Unlike last year, there are no restrictions on large indoor or outdoor events commonly known as 'super spreaders.'

READ ON: See the States Where People Live the Longest

Stacker used data from the 2020 County Health Rankings to rank every state's average life expectancy from lowest to highest. The 2020 County Health Rankings values were calculated using mortality counts from the 2016-2018 National Center for Health Statistics. The U.S. Census 2019 American Community Survey and America's Health Rankings Senior Report 2019 data were also used to provide demographics on the senior population of each state and the state's rank on senior health care, respectively.

Read on to learn the average life expectancy in each state.

How Rude is Idaho and Our Surrounding States?

Lifestyle magazine Best Life released a list of all 50 states ranked from the nicest to the rudest and while the gem state didn't get the top spot, the top 10 isn't great. Our neighboring states scored far kinder than we did.

LOOK: Here are 25 ways you could start saving money today

These money-saving tips—from finding discounts to simple changes to your daily habits—can come in handy whether you have a specific savings goal, want to stash away cash for retirement, or just want to pinch pennies. It’s never too late to be more financially savvy. Read on to learn more about how you can start saving now. [From: 25 ways you could be saving money today]

 

More From Idaho’s Talk Station