UK body-bag stockpiles reaching dangerously low levels - report

Britain's national healthcare provider, the National Health Service (NHS) refuted the claims that they are running out of supplies.

Emergency Medical Technicians wearing protective gear wheel a sick patient to a waiting ambulance during the outbreak of coronavirus disease in New York City, March 28, 2020 (photo credit: REUTERS/STEFAN JEREMIAH)
Emergency Medical Technicians wearing protective gear wheel a sick patient to a waiting ambulance during the outbreak of coronavirus disease in New York City, March 28, 2020
(photo credit: REUTERS/STEFAN JEREMIAH)
Mortuary suppliers told BBC News they are running low or have no stocks of standard body-bags left for sale in light of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic affecting the country.
The arrival of new stocks of supplies is expected to take weeks, according to the BBC report released Monday.  
Britain's national healthcare provider, the National Health Service (NHS) refuted the claims that they are running out of supplies despite reports of health care workers wrapping the deceased in sheets. 
Health officials said that coronavirus quickly degrades upon the death of its host, making body-bags unnecessary for preventing virus transmission. 
One of the NHS's suppliers, Barber Medical, said the availability of body-bags is low at the current moment, and cannot be sourced anywhere. To compensate for the lack of zipped body-bags, the company has provided polythene bags, known as body pouch bags. 
Other solutions to the stockpiling problem have included some suppliers resorting to sewing body-bags together. William Quail, managing director of Mortuary Equipment Direct, hired people to sew between 150 and 200 body bags per day, but he said he was struggling to get the products to hospitals due to bureaucracy.
Since Monday, a total of 11,329 people have died in hospitals across the United Kingdom after testing positive for coronavirus, while the number of confirmed cases stands at 88,621.