The government is coordinating plans for the creation of a network of temporary mortuaries nationwide to cope with the rising death toll from coronavirus.

The structures will be located in the worst-hit areas of the country as part of planning for what the Cabinet Office described as “the reasonable worst-case scenario”, which could lead to existing morgues being overwhelmed.

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As far as possible, they will be in discreet locations and away from homes to avoid distress to local residents, according to Ian Hudspeth, the chairman of the Local Government Association board, which oversees public health. He confirmed many were being supplied by Portakabin.

Councils are engaged in the planning as part of local resilience forums, which are staffed by NHS officials, emergency services and, since the start of the virus outbreak, military officers. They are identifying sites for the temporary buildings, which can be erected rapidly depending on where the most deaths happen, Hudspeth said.

One of the first went up on Wednesday at the rear of a council coroner’s court in Westminster, a borough that has had one of the highest number of Covid-19 cases in the country, with 68 confirmed cases as of 7pm on 18 March. The council said it was “a precautionary step and similar arrangements are made during any London-wide response to incidents”.

It added: “We hope and trust that this will not be needed but it is sensible to prepare at this stage.”

The death toll across the UK from coronavirus reached 144 on Thursday.

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London Councils, which represents all 33 boroughs in the capital, confirmed officials across the capital “are looking at mortuaries and have plans in place to increase capacity if needed”.

“We are taking these steps to maintain the dignity and safety of our residents during this challenging time,” a spokesperson said.

In areas where there is no space adjoining coroners courts, the morgues could be located on council or Ministry of Defence land.

“It’s a very difficult subject for everyone concerned,” said Hudspeth, who is also the leader of Oxfordshire county council. “But we do need to talk about and we need to find capacity where we need it. If a location is identified, people who live in the neighbourhood might be concerned about having a facility near them, but it will be done with precautions. Discreet locations would be preferable rather than clearly visible, because neighbours might find it distressing.”

A rising death toll is also likely to place a strain on burial and cremation services, which normally handle about 600,000 deaths a year.

“Crematoria will gear up as much as they can and look at longer working days, working weekends and evenings, shift working and reducing the time for funeral services,” said Julie Dunk, the chief executive of the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management. “It will depend on staff being well and available.”

In response to questions about temporary morgues, a government spokesperson said it was “undertaking sensible contingency planning for every eventuality – including the reasonable worst-case scenario”.

“This does not mean we expect it to happen,” the spokesperson said. “Public safety is our top priority. We have a team of public health experts and scientists working around the clock to make sure the NHS and UK more widely is fully prepared.”

When the UK government was pursuing a herd immunity strategy, the UK was on course for 250,000 deaths. The new approach, involving isolation of the elderly and widespread social distancing, is an attempt to reduce that to the thousands or tens of thousands. In 2014, a report by the Human Tissue Authority said there were 16,000 fridge and freezer spaces for bodies in mortuaries that it licensed in the UK for postmortems. There are further spaces in funeral director premises.

A spokesperson for Portakabin said: “I can confirm we are working closely with government and the NHS during the outbreak of coronavirus. We have provided a variety of buildings and continue to offer solutions when and where they are needed most. Portakabin regularly works with government and the NHS and we’re proud to be able to support our nation’s healthcare system at this incredibly challenging time.”