H1N1 Swine Flu Increases Business of Manufacturing Body Bags

Many companies are coming to a crashing halt due to the economic collapse however, one type of company is growing; body bag manufacturers.

As the H1N1 Swine Flu pandemic that could emerge to be dangerous this coming autumn, which is the general global concern, governments around the world are preparing emergency supplies such as masks, gloves, anti-viral medications and body bags. Demand for the body bags are increasing, according to President of Trevor Owen Limited, Pierre Barcik, and inquiries are coming from all corners of the world, including Sultanate of Oman on the Arabian Peninsula. Currently, the company is bidding on a contract with the Ohioan government to supply the state with 12,500 white woven polyethylene pandemic bags, “Some seniors' residences are starting to buy five, 10 or 15 at a time. There are states and provincial governments that are starting to stockpile pandemic body bags ... It's a bad pun, but (the business) is growing.” Trevor Owen Ltd. is not the only company whose business is on the uprising in North America, ToDieFor.biz, owned by Richard Miller and is based in the United States is doubling its business since the H1N1 scare began in April. Companies that sell a product like a body bag have a specific niche because hospitals and morgues use generic plastic bags to throw out deceased bodies. The pandemic body bag is thicker and prevents leaks from happening. President of Trevor Owen told the Toronto Star, “It basically lets you handle bigger bodies with less care. I don't suggest we should handle the dead with anything but the utmost care, but if you've got a couple of volunteers moving people around in a pandemic centre, it's a lot different than a morgue situation.” On Friday, the World Health Organization said that the H1N1 Swine Flu has infected 160 countries and could possibly infect two billion people. A senior WHO official, Keiji Fukuda, has stated that the flu is in its early stages but it will spread for a long period of time. Mr. Fukuda told the Associated Press, “Even if we have hundreds of thousands of cases or a few millions of cases, we're relatively early in the pandemic. One of the things that is relatively clear is that we will continue to see spread of the virus; even though we are now three to four months into the pandemic, this is still pretty early into the overall period.” When asked regarding the safety of the vaccines, Mr. Fukuda replied, “There is always a balance in this sort of situation. You of course want to get out vaccine and as much vaccine as possible, as quickly as possible. On the other hand there are certain things which cannot be compromised.”