New York City may be running out of space in the city's morgues as the death toll from the coronavirus rises.

During a briefing on the matter, officials at the Department of Homeland Security were told that the city's morgues are reaching capacity, Politico reported Wednesday.

A department official and a second person familiar with the situation told Politico that officials were told the morgues in New York City are expected to reach capacity by next week. Another person with knowledge of the briefing told the outlet that some of the city's hospital morgues hit capacity over the past seven days.

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Additionally, a spokesperson from the Federal Emergency Management Agency told Politico that New York has asked for emergency mortuary assistance and that the disaster response agency is reviewing the request.

New York City has become an epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 17,800 cases and 192 deaths from the virus.

As coronavirus deaths rise and morgues reach capacity, federal help will become available, a former senior administration official told Politico.

For example, the Department of Health and Human Services oversees the Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Teams, which can establish temporary morgues and operate in response to requests from local authorities.

Despite the alarm, Aja Worthy-Davis, a spokesperson for the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, said that the concerns about morgue capacity may be unfounded. Worthy-Davis told Politico that the city's morgues can store up to 900 bodies across all five boroughs.

"We have the ability to expand pretty dramatically," Worthy-Davis said. "If you look back at what we did during 9/11, we have the ability to create mobile stations that allow us to house bodies if we run out of space."