COVID-19 crisis: El Paso County seeks workers to move 200-plus bodies at morgue, trailers

El Paso County put out a call Thursday night for the immediate hiring of morgue attendants to help with the growing number of COVID-19 dead.

Temporary workers are needed to move bodies amid the growing pandemic death toll, county officials said.

"Not only is this assignment physically taxing, but it may be emotionally taxing as well," a county announcement stated.

On Thursday, the El Paso County Medical Examiner’s Office had 247 bodies at the morgue and inside nine refrigerated trailers serving as mobile morgues, El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego said in news release.

El Paso County has recorded 89 deaths from COVID-19 since Sunday, including 22 on Friday. Public health data shows that there are 435 deaths under investigation awaiting determination for COVID-19. Some of the deaths occurred weeks ago and were only classified as caused by COVID-19 recently, officials said.

More:El Paso officials urge residents to avoid Thanksgiving gatherings

The El Paso County Commissioners Court on Thursday authorized the hiring of several morgue attendants, officials said. The application process is now open to the public and will be closed when full.

Morgue workers will be provided personal protective equipment and will receive a COVID-19 test prior to starting. Attendants must be able to lift between 100 to 400 pounds with assistance, according to a county news release.

Borderland:'Every day I see death': Gravediggers in Juárez perform grim labor as COVID-19 death toll rises

The county hopes to hire enough workers to be able to rotate staff in shifts on weekdays and weekends because of the growing number of COVID-19 dead, officials said.

Samaniego has been meeting with funeral home directors, emergency management and health officials and business groups to help strategize how to best deal with the crisis.

"As the Thanksgiving Holiday and Black Friday approaches, I will continue to be explicit with our consistent message of not letting our guard down," Samaniego stated.

With nearly half of all hospitalizations linked to COVID-19, El Paso is "absolutely nowhere close to being out of the woods," Samaniego added.

The morgue attendant job information is available online at jobs.epcounty.com The job is listed as paying $27.20 an hour. The website on Thursday night listed the job as "internal only" for current county employees but the listing will be updated to reflect that the job is open to the public, a county official said.

The county had been using volunteer jail inmates, paid $2 an hour, to move bodies at the morgue. It was unclear Thursday night if inmates will still be used.

El Paso has tallied 845 confirmed deaths from COVID-19 since the arrival of the virus in March and is on pace to reach 1,000 deaths before the end of the year.

Daniel Borunda may be reached at 915-546-6102; dborunda@elpasotimes.com; @BorundaDaniel on Twitter.