Cañon City mortician gives firsthand account on California COVID crisis

CAÑON CITY, Colo. (KRDO) - A local mortician is shedding light on the COVID-19 horror in California after being flown out to the Golden State to help with thousands of deaths from the virus.

Blanca Eberhardt, a mortician in Cañon City, told KRDO what's happening in California right now is devastating.

Eberhardt's job is to prepare bodies for burial or cremation. She told us funeral homes in California are calling on morticians from all across the country for help since they don't have enough staff to handle the number of deaths.

"I've never seen a hospital morgue filled the way that I have seen," she said. "At the LA County medical examiner's office, they have refrigerated containers in the parking lot filled with loved ones that have passed."

She wants the tragic situation there to serve as a warning to Coloradans, saying things could just as easily get that bad here if we don't keep our guards up.

"Please be patient and follow the guidelines," she said. "They're given for us to better protect ourselves."

California officials say cases are on the decline there, but it's clear they still have a long way to go.

Eberhardt will be helping out for another week before heading back home to Cañon City.