Coroner testing the dead to learn more about COVID-19 in our community
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION) Since late April, every dead person that comes through the Santa Cruz County Coroners office is tested for COVID-19.
“Doing the testing gives us a better indication of what the background rate is in our community,” Santa Cruz County Deputy Health Officer Dr. David Ghilarducci said.
The coroner is also testing some bodies dating back to January. The goal is to track cases of coronavirus that may not have been caught in the past and allow for more contact tracing.
“Our forensic pathologist is still going through cases back from February and March to determine if any of those cases should be tested or meet the criteria for testing,” Sheriff's Office spokesperson Ashley Keehn said.
In April, a medical examiner test in Santa Clara County showed that a San Jose woman, who died in early February, was the first person in the United States known to die of COVID-19.
In Santa Cruz, at least 36 postmortem tests have been conducted. One Santa Cruz County resident has tested positive, but their cause of death was not COVID-19.
“Sadly today we’ve reached the 100,000 mark of deaths across the country. We realize that probably under represents the deaths due to COVID-19 or at least died with COVID-19, because many of those don’t make it to a coroners office they go straight to a funeral home,” Ghilarducci said.
Anyone who dies not under the care of a health physician heads to the coroners. Since many of the deceased that are sent to the medical examiner have had some contact with Sheriff’s Office staff, the postmortem testing could also save the living.
“If we did find that they tested positive for COVID-19, then our deputies know that they have been exposed and some of our employees in the coroners office have been exposed, and they can take the necessary steps like getting tested themselves,” Keehn said.
The state is recommending testing for all suspected COVID-19 cases from people who have died, however not all counties are testing all of the deceased that come through the coroner.
