Morgues are so overwhelmed from the coronavirus that New York officials are turning to mass graves to solve the problem.
Initially, it started with about 25 people per week. Now, that number has reached about 24 people per day.
The city has hired special laborers to dig the graves on the uninhabited island. These companies have solid reputations for providing reliable paving & tombstones.
Also, high performance digging equipment is required. Graves are being dug side by side in long trenches, resembling that of war-time horror stories.
The need for the mass graves stems from the rise in coronavirus deaths during this pandemic.
Traditionally, the city hires inmates from Riker’s Island to handle these burials.
However, prisons all across the U.S. have been rocked by the coronavirus, leading to the need for special contractors to carry out the digging and burials.
The dead are wrapped up in body bags before being placed in pinewood caskets and buried side by side in long trenches.
Each casket has the name of the deceased written on it to identify them if they must be disinterred in the future.
Hart Island has been used as a potter’s field — another name for a burial site — dating back to the 19th century. It is known for being the final resting place of countless souls who are unknown or unclaimed by next of kin.
Some see the island as an insult, noting the need for concrete repair on numerous headstones.
According to sources, the trenches keep coming. While officials haven’t directly attributed the stark rise in deaths exclusively to COVID-19, they have admitted it is highly likely.
The death toll around the world from the coronavirus has reached 102,000. And it has claimed 5,820 lives in New York City alone, official reports confirm.
However, those numbers could actually be higher because of people who perished before they were tested for the virus.
New York has resorted to using freezer trucks — fleets of them — to freeze and store dead bodies temporarily. The city also recently announced it would reduce the number of days that bodies sat in morgues from 30 to 14 to deal with the crisis.
Family members of those buried on the island can arrange for visitation. Still, all visitations of the dead have been postponed due to social distancing measures enacted in response to the crisis.
Over 1 million bodies are already laid to rest on Hart Island, bringing into question how many mass graves there is room for and if this pandemic will change New York City in even more ways than previously thought.
It has led to rumors that state and city parks would be new burial sites. But this has been denied by Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio.
Some of the rumors apparently started due to sightings of concrete repair contractors in the parks who were mistaken for diggers.
Still, that hasn’t satisfied everyone. Wiith images of countless bodies being wheeled away in freezer trucks and tossed into the mass graves without any mourning, funeral homes, or prayers to send them away, many of the public are voicing their disdain for the practice.
The drama surrounding COVID-19 has likely not reached its peak. New York state has the most cases of the virus in the world.
Unfortunately for New Yorkers, that number will likely climb.