OVERWHELMED

El Paso Is Paying Inmates $2 an Hour to Move COVID Bodies

Videos sparked outrage and now the county judge is asking the Texas National Guard to take over at the morgue.

Video of inmates in El Paso, Texas, moving the bodies of COVID-19 patients for $2 an hour has sparked outrage—and now a top official says he’s asking the National Guard to come in and take over morgue duty. El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego said there were other options than to use the prisoners, who have protective equipment, because of the surge in virus case numbers and fatalities. “If there’s no personnel, no one to help out, and there’s volunteers, even if they are inmates, then that’s what we’re left with,” he told KFOX14. The county reported 1,550 new coronavirus cases and seven deaths on Monday, and half the patients in the hospital have COVID. Samaniego said it’s not clear if the military will help out. “It has not been confirmed that they would be able to take over the demand that we have at this time,” he said.