A mortuary in the heart of London is being expanded to cope with the bodies of coronavirus victims.

Work began today at Westminster morgue, where the capacity to store 102 corpses is likely to be almost doubled to deal with the COVID-19 crisis.

It will also be used for post-mortem examinations.

The capital is a coronavirus hotspot, where at least 35 of the 104 UK deaths so far have been recorded.

It comes after the number of confirmed cases in the UK rose by 676 in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 2,626.


Worst-case predictions originally suggested 250,000 people might die if no restrictions were introduced.

The Westminster mortuary is one of several in London and was last expanded in 2008, with the addition of a state-of-the-art forensic facility for autopsies for suspicious deaths.

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The morgue is large enough to deal with mass deaths, but ministers believe it would be overwhelmed by the predicted number of coronavirus deaths.

A spokesperson for Westminster City Council said: "This is a precautionary step and similar arrangements are made during any London wide response to incidents. We hope and trust that this will not be needed but it is sensible to prepare at this stage."

Major hospitals have their own mortuaries and they are likely to be expanded, along with those like Westminster, which are attached to coroner's courts.

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A similar, temporary extension was built to accommodate the bodies of victims of the Grenfell Tower fire.

The structure sits on a plot of land traditionally used by black cab drivers resting between fares. The space offers them toilet facilities and cheap parking.

The pop-up morgue came down around three months after Grenfell, but cabbies have been told it is likely to stay open much longer this time.

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