Birmingham Airport mortuary to be 'mothballed' until next year
A temporary mortuary built to deal with coronavirus deaths in the West Midlands will be "mothballed" until early next year.
The temporary site began operating at Birmingham Airport to receive bodies from across the region from April.
Bodies of people who have died from Covid-19 will be stored there until funeral arrangements can be made.
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Now the chief executive of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) has said the site will be "mothballed" so it can remain in place until next year.
Deborah Cadman told a WMCA briefing: "We are looking to mothball the mortuary so that it will remain in place until early next year.
"This is quite prudent, there's a working group that will continue to meet to consider the medium and longer term mortality management arrangements for the region, but there is lots of work being done to ensure that we will be prepared if heavens forbid there are subsequent major outbreaks across the region, but it was felt to be very prudent to look to keep the facility that we have for the time being."
