On Thursday, NBC News reported that around the same time President Donald Trump was offering a relatively rosy forecast on the coronavirus death toll, the Federal Emergency Management Agency ordered enough body bags for a death count twice that high.
"The federal government placed orders for well over 100,000 new body bags to hold victims of COVID-19 in April, according to internal administration documents obtained by NBC News, as well as public records," reported Jonathan Allen, Phil McCausland, and Cyrus Farivar. "The biggest set was earmarked for purchase the day after President Donald Trump projected that the U.S. death toll from the coronavirus might not exceed 50,000 or 60,000 people."
"That batch is a still-pending $5.1 million purchase order placed by the Homeland Security Department April 21 with the Montebello, Calif.-based company E.M. Oil Transport, Inc., which advertises construction vehicles, building materials and electronics on its website," continued the report. "The 'human remains pouches' have not been shipped to the Federal Emergency Management Agency or paid for yet, according to the company’s marketing manager, Mike Pryor."
"The cache of internal documents obtained by NBC News includes an April 25 'pre-decisional draft' of the coronavirus task force’s 'incident outlook' for the response, a summary of task force leaders’ meeting the same day and various communications among officials at several agencies," said the report. "The documents show that task force members remain worried about several major risks ahead, including insufficient availability of coronavirus tests, the absence of a vaccine or proven treatments for coronavirus, and the possibility of a 'catastrophic resurgence' of COVID-19."
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