About 25 people a day buried on Hart Island, which has served as a poor man’s grave since the nineteenth century.
In this way, the city tries to make the situation feasible for morgues. They must store more bodies than is achievable since the outbreak of the corona crisis.
Those who have no relatives who come to claim them within fourteen days will rest on Hart Island. At least temporarily, because the victims can still be excavated.
Mayor Bill DeBlasio said earlier this week that it was possible that temporary funerals would take place on Hart Island.
Two new trenches have already been dug at the poor old grave, located in The Bronx district, “just in case they are needed,” said Jason Kersten, spokesman for the department in charge.
On Thursday morning a refrigerator truck with about 25 corpses arrived. Under normal circumstances, approximately 25 people are buried per week, often by prisoners of Riker’s Island prison.
Melinda Hunt, president of non-profit Hart Island Project, reported to The New York Post this week that more funerals were going on. Meanwhile, it is about 25 people per working day, says Kersten. Now they work with workers who wear protective clothing, and no longer with the prisoners.
Not all deaths will be covid-19 victims. According to the authorities, it would take a while for all causes of death to be collected.