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Oregon counties request trucks for bodies as deaths climb

oregon virus outbreak covid-19
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BEND, Ore. — The death toll from COVID-19 in Oregon is climbing so rapidly in some counties that the state has organized delivery of one refrigerated truck to hold the bodies and is sending a second one.

The state emergency management department says refrigerated trucks to hold bodies have been requested by Tillamook and Josephine counties. A refrigerated truck arrived in Tillamook County on Friday, loaned by Klamath County.

In a statement, the Tillamook County commissioners said that from Aug. 18 to Aug. 23, there were six new COVID-19 deaths in the county, surpassing the five total deaths that occurred during the first 18 months of the pandemic.