JACKSONVILLE, Fla — As the contagious Delta variant spreads rapidly throughout Jacksonville, Patterson Funeral Service says they’ve been getting calls non-stop from families who lost their loved ones from COVID.
“From July to now we’re talking about maybe a COVID patient one or two a day," said President of Patterson Funeral Service, Darryl Patterson.
Patterson says in the past month they’ve received in total about 100 cases and 95 percent of the deceased people that they’ve received were not vaccinated.
"[With COVID-19] you were seeing your older 55 and older but now we’re seeing more 50 and younger," said Patterson.
Patterson says a challenge they face is the backlog in the cremation process because you must wait for approval from the medical examiner’s office.
“We need more room to house them until we get their approval and that’s the difficulty that we noticed," said Patterson.
Patterson says just like the hospitals are struggling to find space for patients, funeral homes are struggling to find morgue space.
“So the vaccine I think definitely works. Masks still work and I feel very strongly about that," said Patterson.