USA. Queens, New York. May 6 , 2020. Because of COVID-19 (the novel Coronavirus), there has been such an uptick in calls to Leo Kearns Funeral Home that every available space in the building is being used to store bodies, as well as a refrigerated container out back to preserve another 50 before embalming. The staff is working seven days a week, at least 12 hours a day, to handle the calls, which is approximately five times the normal volume. In the eight week peak of the crisis, they served 350 families, up from a normal rate of about 75.