As deaths related to the COVID-19 outbreak continue to rise across the D.C. region, local officials are facing a tough, bleak challenge: how to store the surge of dead bodies.

It’s a grim reality that’s forcing authorities to figure out how to meet the added demand for mortuary space. At the same time, funeral homes and morgues are increasingly on the front lines of the pandemic, seeking extra protective equipment for their staff and bracing themselves for an influx of corpses.

D.C.’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner tells DCist it can handle “over 850 fatalities” and will use “mobile body storage trailers”—much in the same way that New York City has done—but it didn’t immediately provide other details. So far, 32 people have died in the District because of COVID-19, government figures say.

This week, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s spokesperson Mike Ricci also confirmed that the state was considering leasing ice rinks as makeshift morgues, calling the preparations “a precautionary measure” and “something we are exploring” due to limited hospital capacity. (News outlet Maryland Matters had earlier reported that the state was leasing two rinks, based on comments by Maryland’s health secretary.) The state previously requested 15,000 body bags from the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, although Hogan said on Tuesday that they and the ice rinks might not be needed after all, since social-distancing practices appeared to be working against the coronavirus, reports the Washington Post. Maryland has seen 138 deaths related to COVID-19 as of Thursday.

Virginia’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner initially declined to discuss specific preparations the commonwealth is taking for any wave of deaths from COVID-19, but pointed out that they would be handled like other “natural deaths.” (“For example, when an individual dies in a hospital or other facility [f]rom a natural death, the hospital or facility is responsible for the proper care of the decedent until the family sends the selected funeral home to pick-up the decedent to prepare for final disposition,” a representative said in an email.) After this story was published, the office said Virginia has the infrastructure to handle a surge in fatalities if necessary and is “monitoring and assisting with cold storage of decedents in anticipation of further COVID-19 infection.” At last count, the commonwealth had recorded 109 deaths from the disease.

With some people dying at home and cracks existing in coronavirus-tracking nationwide, the actual death tolls are likely higher than those provided in government counts.

Meanwhile, death professionals are busy with work. Randolph Horton, the funeral director at R.N. Horton Company Morticians, an eight-decade-old business in Brightwood Park, and a member of the D.C. Board of Funeral Directors, says he received three calls Tuesday from grieving families whose loved ones died due to COVID-19 complications. He and his employees go to homes and nursing facilities to pick up and handle the bodies of the recently deceased, Horton says. They use personal protective equipment, or PPE, in accordance with National Funeral Director Association guidelines and what’s known as the “universal protocol” for body-handlers.

But supplies are dwindling, Horton says. When he’s attempted to buy more equipment like masks and gloves in recent days, he’s been told much of it is on backorder. “We have to get PPE, just like health care workers,” says Horton. “We need to protect our staff.”

Hearing Mayor Muriel Bowser’s projections of the possible total of deaths last week—more than 1,000 in a worst-case scenario—worried Horton about how he and his colleagues will be able to manage the pandemic. “If we get the number of deaths [they] are expecting, it will be chaotic,” says Horton. “We could be overrun. A lot of funeral homes are small and don’t have the space.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization have both released guidance for safely handling the bodies of deceased COVID-19 patients. In general, according to the CDC, transmission of the virus from human remains is “not a concern,” though it’s possible to catch the virus from coming into contact with a contaminated object and then touching one’s nose, mouth, or eyes.

The NFDA has frequently updated their recommendations and guidelines based on the CDC’s advice on best practices for embalming, cremation, and holding services. In D.C., many traditional funerals haven’t gone forward because of current restrictions on mass gatherings; that’s led Horton and other funeral directors in the area to offer services by video as well as grief hotlines.

“[Mourning] is a time for comfort. Hugging and kissing,” Albert Bloomfield, the owner of the Shomrei Neshama Jewish Orthodox funeral home in Rockville, Md., told DCist last month. “But we have to respect social distancing.”

Governments should provide additional resources for funeral homes and morticians since they’re at the forefront of the crisis, says Ciro Ugarte, the director of health emergencies at the D.C.-based Pan American Health Organization, which is the regional office for the WHO. This means helping them expand their spaces and staff and making sure they have enough PPE.

“Funeral directors know the best way to proceed,” particularly with meeting the demand for space, says Ugarte. “The local authorities should support them rather than creating their own procedures.”

Some officials appear to be taking steps in that direction. Horton tells DCist he had a call with the Maryland health department in which agency representatives said they were setting up temporary mortuary centers where bodies could be stored until they’re embalmed, cremated, or otherwise tended to. (The department didn’t respond to a request for comment by press time.) The state will ask families of the deceased to pay for storage and removal, according to Horton.

But what happens if people can’t afford to pay for those services? “I don’t know,” he says, adding that a call between D.C. health officials and mortuary specialists was scheduled for Thursday.

For his own funeral home, Horton is exploring the possibility of renting a refrigerated trailer and notes that he would offer it to the D.C. government for storing dead bodies if asked. In that case, he says he would request public financial assistance to help cover his electricity, gas, and rental fees.

“It’s unbelievable that this could happen in the U.S. and we were not ready for it,” says Horton. “How did that happen?”

This post has been updated with additional comment from the Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.