Prisoners in Hazmat Suits Bury NYC Covid-19 Victims in Mass Graves

Related FileDozens of refrigerated trucks and hearses lined up in a parking lot outside of Manhattan waiting to be loaded with body bags as death toll in New York City reaches 4,778, The Guardian reported.

As New York deals with a mounting coronavirus death toll and dwindling morgue space, the city has shortened the length of time it will hold unclaimed remains before they are buried in its public cemetery on Hart Island.

Aerial video captured workers digging graves on the island, a one-mile, limited-access strip near the Bronx.

Normally, about 25 bodies a week are interred on the island, mostly for people whose families can't afford a funeral, or who go unclaimed by relatives. Operations have now increased from one day a week to five days a week, with around 24 burials each day.