New York City Begins Digging Massive Communal Graves to Cope with Coronavirus Death Toll

New York authorities are using the Hart Island, on the outskirts of the city, to make space for the first mass burials.

THE state of New York already has more confirmed cases of the coronavirus than any other country in the world, although their death toll is currently below those registered in Spain and Italy. One of the most harrowing images seen in the last few hours is that of the immense digging being completed in Hart Island to accommodate the mass graves for the city of New York as they prepare for mass burials.

Normally these kinds of graves are used to bury those who have no family or resources, and prisoners are used to carry out the work. However, given the spread of the pandemic amongst the prison population and the increasing amount of deaths, the state has resorted to hiring outside labour. Currently around 25 bodies arrive each day to the site, so they are also preparing for the scenario in which morgues begin to overflow.

New York remains the epicentre of the pandemic in the United States. In a single day it has registered 779 deaths, bringing the total death toll to 7,067 and 10,621 new positive cases.

The United States continues to be the leading country with the greatest number of people infected as it recently reached a total of 466,299 cases, 24,167 more than yesterday.