SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — The state of Maryland has opened a temporary morgue at an ice skating and hockey facility to store bodies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A state lawmaker says it opened last month at the Gardens Ice House in Laurel, which is located about midway between Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

Del. Mary Lehman says a state health department liaison told her about 55 bodies have been taken to the ice rink facility since it opened on April 17 and that it had roughly 30 bodies there on Wednesday.