Help Wanted: Texas County Hiring Morgue Workers At $27 Per Hour

ACROSS AMERICA — As Texas reported a record number of new coronavirus cases on Saturday, a team of National Guard members were sent to El Paso County to assist morgues in the border region with the number of dead.

In total, the county has seen nearly 78,000 cases of the disease since the pandemic began, according to statistics from the Texas Department of State Health Services. The total is the third-highest in the state.

The pandemic is blamed for 853 deaths in El Paso County, including more than 300 since October, The Associated Press reported.

So many are dying that jail inmates are being paid to move bodies and the county has posted job openings for morgue attendants. The pay is $27 per hour.

“The Morgue Attendants will be provided maximum PPE [personal protective equipment], and will receive a COVID test prior to starting. All Morgue Attendants will be tasked with physically moving Decedents,” the notice reads. “Not only is this assignment physically taxing, but it may be emotionally taxing as well.”

County Judge Ricardo Samaniego, in a letter to Gov. Greg Abbott asking for support in enacting a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. countywide curfew in the county, said mortuaries are being "overwhelmed." He also wrote that the local medical examiner’s office reported that 234 bodies were currently being held — some at the main morgue and others in nine mobile morgues.

The Latest

The United States surpassed 12 million confirmed cases of coronavirus on Saturday, just a day after the country recorded its highest single-day total ever and six days after passing the 11 million case mark.

The United States recorded more than 196,000 new cases on Friday, and was on track to exceed that total Saturday. So far, more than 254,000 people in the United States have died of COVID-19, surpassing the White House's worst predictions from the spring.

“We know what will happen. We know that three to four weeks from Thanksgiving, we will see an exacerbation of the outbreaks,” said Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association.

CDC scientists told the Associated Press they believe about 40 percent of infected people don’t have obvious symptoms but can still spread the virus.

On Saturday, talks on how to tackle the coronavirus pandemic and deal with the global economic damage it has caused dominated the Group of 20 summit, which is being held virtually this year. In private sessions, top world leaders spoke about how to ensure equal distribution of vaccines as well as debt relief for poor countries hit by the virus.

President Trump briefly participated in the summit, according to The New York Times, but did not attend a sideline event on pandemic preparedness. Instead, the president opted for a round of golf at his Virginia country club.

As cases run rampant across the nation, drugmaker Pfizer said on Friday it had submitted an application to the Food and Drug Administration for emergency approval of its coronavirus vaccine, the New York Times reported.

If approved, the vaccine could reach its first American recipients by the middle of December.
Meanwhile, Republican and Democratic governors from several Midwestern states issued a joint video this weekend urging people to say home for Thanksgiving and wear masks to slow the spread of the virus until a vaccine is widely available.

Even South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who refuses to issue a mask mandate, suggested smaller gatherings "may be smarter this year," AP reported.

Also on Friday, reports confirmed that Donald Trump Jr., the eldest child of President Donald Trump, has been infected with the coronavirus.

The 42-year-old Trump learned his diagnosis earlier this week and remains asymptomatic, according to spokesperson granted anonymity by The AP to discuss private medical information. The reports said he is isolating at a private cabin, where he is following the recommended guidelines for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, the spokesperson said.

As cases surge, U.S. states continue to put together a patchwork response in lieu of a unified national plan.

In Illinois, residents received what once might have been considered an apocalyptic warning on their phones Friday evening: "Effective today, all of Illinois enters Tier 3 Mitigation. Work from home when possible, avoid unnecessary travel, and celebrate the holidays virtually with extended family."

California is the latest to issue an overnight curfew, a measure more often imposed to calm public unrest than for the sake of public health.

Cities are also imposing curfews at a local level. Pueblo, Colorado, and Miami-Dade County, Florida, are among them. New York and Chicago have shut down bars and restaurants at 10 p.m.

Sunday's Numbers

At least 15 new coronavirus deaths and 5,996 new cases had been reported in the United States on Sunday as of 9:45 a.m. ET, according to a Washington Post database. Over the past seven days, the United States has seen a 13.8 percent increase in cases and averaged more than 169,000 cases each day.

As of Sunday, 45 states and Puerto Rico remained above the positive testing rate recommended by the World Health Organization to safely reopen. To safely reopen, the WHO recommends states remain at 5 percent or lower for at least 14 days.

More than 12 million people in the United States had tested positive for the coronavirus as of Sunday morning, and more than 255,900 have died, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Stay up to date on the latest coronavirus news via The New York Times or Washington Post.

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