Coffin producer in east Los Angeles is going through a wooden scarcity amid rising demand attributable to COVID-19 deaths

• A coffin maker in east Los Angeles faces a rare shortage of wood for caskets as the number of deaths from COVID-19 has risen, The Daily Beast reported Tuesday, offering a grim in light of rising deaths from COVID-19 in the county Reality.

• Auriel “Guero” Suarez, owner of Universal Caskets Manufacturing Corporation, told The Daily Beast that wood “is becoming scarce, especially pine, which is the cheapest”.

• “I’ve never seen anything like it in 52 years in business,” Suarez told The Daily Beast.

• According to a press release from the county’s Department of Health, the Los Angeles District reported 227 new deaths – a record number of new COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday – in part from residues.

• You can find more stories on the Insider homepage.

A coffin maker in east Los Angeles is facing a rare shortage of wood material due to soaring demand due to soaring COVID-19 deaths in the city.

Auriel “Guero” Suarez, owner of Universal Caskets Manufacturing Corporation, told The Daily Beast that wood “is becoming scarce, especially pine, which is the cheapest”.

“I’ve never seen anything like it in 52 years in business,” Suarez told The Daily Beast.

Los Angeles County reported 227 new COVID-19 deaths – a record number – in part due to residues, according to a press release from the county’s Department of Health. Less than a week ago, on Christmas Eve, the county reported 148 new COVID-19 deaths.

“Today, Public Health again confirms the highest number of hospitalizations reported in a day. There are currently 7,181 people with COVID-19 in the hospital,” the press release said. “This is an increase from 267 people reported yesterday. Of the 7,181 people with COVID-19 currently in hospital, 20% of those patients are in intensive care. “

The public health department said in the press release that the number of daily hospital admissions has increased by 1,000% compared to two months ago when the county reported 750 hospital admissions in late October.

The shortage of wood at the coffin maker is a grim example of the impact of an increasing number of COVID-19 deaths in the county. The county recently announced that it was testing the potential spread of a new, contagious strain of the coronavirus that was originally discovered in the UK – the first case was reported in the state of Colorado.

“It’s horrible what these families are going through,” Suarez told The Daily Beast. “The boxes practically fly out the door as soon as they’re built.”

“At some point the coffins don’t come in time for the funeral,” he added.

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