e in West Virginia, Gov. Jim Justice said Monday that Marshall County had reached out for help due to the number of deaths.

In his Monday briefing, Justice said the county had contacted the West Virginia National Guard “as a preventative measure” for a refrigerated trailer to “provide assistance to the county coroner.”

In a Monday evening news release, the Marshall County Health Department had asked for assistance due to “the number of overall deaths in the area.” There had been nine recent deaths in Marshall and Ohio counties and five were COVID-related.

The health department said that “due to COVID, a traditional funeral may be delayed due to family members that are either positive or under quarantine, delaying those funerals for as much as two weeks.”

The department said there is a concern that, with such a delay, there may not be sufficient cold storage for those who have died and are awaiting a funeral.

COVID-related deaths have climbed precipitously in Marshall County in recent weeks. The Marshall County Health Department, on Nov. 17, reported 10 COVID-related deaths since the pandemic began. As of Monday night, that number had leaped to 36 after the health department reported three more deaths Monday evening — a 59-year-old woman who had been hospitalized at the time of her death and a 96-year-old man and 73-year-old woman who were residents in long-term facilities at the time of their deaths.

The Marshall County Health Department isn’t the only agency that has sought such assistance in recent weeks. In November, Wheeling Hospital, as part of its COVID surge capacity plan, asked the city of Wheeling if it could use morgue equipment at the former Ohio Valley Medical Center campus. The city now owns the OVMC property.

The virus also has seen a surge at correctional facilities in Marshall County. According to the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources website, the Northern Regional Jail and Northern Correctional Facility, which share a building in the county, had 203 active cases among inmates as of Monday evening.

Of those, 108 were at the jail and 95 were at the correctional facility.