Coronavirus: FEMA orders 100,000 body bags as death toll tops 5,000

Request follows warnings from White House that as many as 200,000 people in US could die during pandemic

The US Department of Defence has fielded requests for 100,000 body bags after health officials predicted the nation's death toll following the coronavirus pandemic could reach as high as 240,000.

Pentagon officials confirmed on Thursday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has requested the body bags "to address mortuary contingencies on behalf of state health agencies," according to a statement from Lt Col Mike Andrews.

Earlier this week, Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who is leading the White House response to the crisis, estimated that 100,000 to 240,000 people could die, even with strict adherence to "social distancing" guidelines outlined by the federal government.

He said: "As sobering a number as that is, we should be prepared for it ... This is not a number we need to accept. We can influence this to a varying degree."

The Pentagon is working with the Defense Logistics Agency to procure the bags from defence contractors, though a delivery date has not been established as manufactures reportedly are ramping up production to meet the potential need.

Hospitals and health systems across the US are bracing for what could be a "peak" number of Covid-19 patients this month, after a delayed federal response to the virus and patchwork efforts among states not bound by a consistent quarantine measures or provided with enough supplies to meet the needs of the surge in cases.

The Defense Logistics Agency's Troop Support unit manages the Pentagon's national stockpile of its green nylon body bags, typically reserved for use in war zones.

By 2 April, the number of confirmed cases in the US surpassed 200,000, with more than 5,000 deaths. The total number of identified cases more than doubled within a week, after the US overtook China and Italy to have the most cases in the world on 26 March.

Refrigerated trucks deployed to New York and New Jersey are being used to store bodies as hospitals are running out of space.

In a statement, Lt Col Andrews said: "The Department of Defense and the Defense Logistics Agency have a longstanding arrangement with FEMA to procure key commodities from DLA's industrial partners during crisis response operations."

The Pentagon is also expected to draw from its own stockpile of 50,000 bags, according to Bloomberg, which first reported the order.