Waste not, want not

Via The Daily Mail in the UK: Home Office draws up plans for reusing coffins in case of a flu pandemic. Excerpt:

A deadly flu pandemic sweeping Britain would force local councils to dig mass graves outside cemeteries and reuse coffins at crematoria, a Home Office report reveals.

Funeral parlours and crematorium staff would have to work around-the-clock seven days a week, while funeral services would be reduced to the most basic "no-frills" ceremonies without hymns or eulogies to save time.

Doctors and coroners would be dragged out or retirement to help cope with the numbers of dead.

Even benefits offices would have to take on extra staff to handle the numbers applying for cash hand-outs to cover funeral expenses and as family breadwinners die.

The grim predictions form part of a Home Office consultation to help plan the practical steps needed to deal with a pandemic.

The document warns that an outbreak could cause 650,000 'extra' deaths over a four month period, and adds: "History and science suggest that we are very likely to face influenza pandemics this century."

You can download a PDF of the report on the UK Resilience website. And I've put a link to the Resilience site in the H5N1 Government Sites list.