The expected 'Italy levels' of strain and collapse to the system has now begun in the United States, it appears, as on Wednesday New York, Hawaii and North Carolina have issued an urgent request to FEMA for emergency mortuary assistance as deaths mount across the states.

CNBC reports "A spokesperson for the Federal Emergency Management Agency confirmed the request in a statement on Wednesday," and it's now said to be under review but not yet approved.

The US on Wednesday reached above 60,000 confirmed cases and is on track to overtake Italy and possibly China in terms of total numbers.

If the emergency request for federal morgue assistance to these states are approved, HHS Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Teams, or DMORT, will deploy in order to “work to quickly and accurately identify victims and support local mortuary services,” according to a government website, as well to “establishing temporary morgue facilities” and help in “assisting in the determination of cause and manner of death”.

Should these initial states receive the FEMA help, more states are likely to follow suit as cases across the US grow.

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