Phoenix Mayor Gallego says Maricopa Co. has requested refrigerated trucks because one health system in the region has run out of morgue beds. pic.twitter.com/uCeHfzjjLk
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) July 10, 2020
During an interview with Chuck Todd and Katy Tur Friday morning, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said that her county had just ordered refrigerated trucks for Covid19 bodies because their morgues were running out of space.
“Maricopa County, which is our county public health agency, just announced that they’re going to be getting refrigerated trucks because the Abrazo health care system has run out of morgue beds,” Gallego said.
Due to the uproar the statement caused, representatives of the hospital system were forced to challenge the Mayor’s statements.
Phoenix area hospitals have “adequate morgue space” Spokesman Keith Jones would tell azcentral.com soon after.
What happened was that Phoenix, along with the rest of the state, has been asked to implement emergency plans in advance of possible Covid19 overloads. Part of those contingency plans were orders for refrigerated storage – which were put in weeks ago but have not yet been deployed.
“At this point, it is not needed,” Jones said.
Contrary to Arizona Democrats’ demands, Republican Governor Doug Ducey has declined to reimpose stay-at-home orders in Arizona due to Covid19.
The Mayor’s claim turned out to be false.
But that didn’t stop MSNBC’s Todd from trying to fan the flames as soon as he heard it however.
“My goodness!” Todd exclaims. “You’re out of morgue space?” he asks in a follow-up question, cutting off his co-host.