By Oct. 7, 1918, influenza cases in Philadelphia had risen by over 3,000 new cases, overwhelming medical facilities.

By the start of the second week of October, the number of new influenza cases being reported in the city began to stabilize and then slowly decline. The situation was still dire, however, as the epidemic was causing several thousand new cases per day and as even the city’s overflow emergency hospitals were quickly overwhelmed.

Police officers, whose ranks were drastically thinned by the 400 patrolmen out sick with influenza, assisted coroners whenever possible, and some sixteen police stations were converted into emergency health departments.

Embalmers were in high demand and short supply. The death toll grew so great, so quickly, that the Department of Health and the City Coroner temporarily suspended the ordinance mandating that death certificates be issued before burial.