After seeing a record number of coronavirus deaths over the past three days, New York City has begun burying victims in a graveyard for unclaimed bodies. Using contracted laborers to dig the graves, the bodies of COVID-19 victims are being laid to rest — temporarily — on Hart Island, a spokesman for Mayor Bill de Blasio confirmed Thursday. “For decades, Hart Island has been used to lay to rest decedents who have not been claimed by family members,” says Freddi Goldstein. “We will continue using the island in that fashion during this crisis.” The news comes after New York reported an overnight death count of 799 on Thursday, bringing the state’s total to 6,268. Of that number, 4,500 were residents of New York City.
Frankly, this is very devastating. PLEASE, stay home.
This drone footage captures NYC workers burying bodies in a mass grave on Hart Island, just off the coast of the Bronx. For over a century, the island has served as a potter’s field for deceased with no known next of kin or families unable to pay for funerals. pic.twitter.com/wBVIGlX6aK
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) April 9, 2020
