A major health crisis is looming in Meru region and its environs due to over-stretched morgue at Meru County Teaching and Referral Hospital beyond its capacity by over five times posing grave health hazards.
Currently, the facility which has capacity to hold up to sixty bodies has 319 corpses so far.
Most of them have been laid on the ground making it a challenge to properly preserve them which medics contend maybe serve as breeding ground for deadly bacteria.
The hospital’s acting Chief Executive Officer Dr. Gacheri Kathiiri admitted the facility is facing a glaring crisis at its mortuary wing which has run out of dead body preservation spaces.
Kithiiri called on Meru governor Kawira Mwangaza to invest in a county mortuary so as to cater to the need as not many can afford to preserve their loved ones in private mortuaries.
“We are unable to take more bodies at our facility… The morgue freezers, with capacity is 60 bodies, are currently holding more than 319 bodies, overstretching the facility and posing a health hazard within the community… We have been left with no other choice but to ask residents to find alternative mortuaries to preserve their loved ones before the situation worsens.” Kathiiri observed.
The crisis has been attributed delays in issuing disposal orders by the court for unclaimed bodies.
However, she said plans are underway to increase the morgue capacity to 90 bodies capacity.
The situation has affected neighboring morgues notably Miathene and Nyambene Level Four Hospitals as relatives of the deceased are forced to seek alternative mortuaries.
A similar situation is also being witnessed at Nyambene Hospital mortuary located more than 51 kilometres away with a capacity of 30 bodies but is currently holding more than 260 bodies.
Normally, the referral hospital dispose more than 30 unclaimed bodies every two weeks,