A Paris mortuary overwhelmed by coronavirus victims

In normal times, this mortuary in a northwestern corner of Paris receives two or three corpses per day. But the mounting coronavirus death toll has seen it run out of cold chambers, meaning that caskets are piling up in the visitation rooms.

"At the moment, we have 50 cadavers. They arrive constantly," Sabine, an undertaker who did not wish to give her full name, told AFP in the French capital, where hospitals are hit hard by the spiralling health crisis.

"So many coffins arrive that we don't know where to put them," she said, her voice shaking.

With all 32 places in its cold chambers occupied, the funeral home has been stacking the new arrivals in its six visitation rooms, which are now also full.

France, one of the countries with the highest death tolls from COVID-19, has seen more than 2,600 registered deaths due to the outbreak so far.

But this figure only takes into account those who died in hospitals, not those who perish in retirement facilities or at home, or those who were never tested for the virus.

For many of the bodies arriving, "we are told that the people died natural deaths, that they died of a heart attack or respiratory failure, and later we learn that they may have died of COVID-19," said Sabine.

"In many cases, we believe they were simply never tested." The uncertainty can place undertakers at risk.

At Sabine's workplace, staff are worried that they are quickly running out of protective goggles, coats, gloves and masks.

"At the moment, there is a shortage of masks and the gloves they gave us are poor quality," she said. "We are very afraid of contagion."