New York may soon need to temporarily bury its dead from the coronavirus pandemic in a municipal park, for lack of sufficient capacity in the morgues, said a municipal official on Monday.
While the number of deaths in the American economic capital, epicenter of the epidemic, exploded for 10 days to reach 2.475 this Monday morning, Mark Levine, of northern Manhattan, said on his Twitter account that “temporary burials” would soon be carried out.
“It will probably be done using a municipal park for burials (yes, you read that right. Trenches will be dug for rows of 10 coffins,” he added.
Soon we’ll start “temporary interment”. This likely will be done by using a NYC park for burials (yes you read that right). Trenches will be dug for 10 caskets in a line.
It will be done in a dignified, orderly – and temporary – manner. But it will be tough for NYers to take. 9 /
– Mark D. Levine (@MarkLevineNYC) April 6, 2020
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A backup solution
This striking information was immediately relayed to social media and the New York media. Pushing Mark Levine to “clarify” and explain that the use of a park was only a backup plan, “which will not be used if the death toll decreases enough” in the coming days.
The mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, had earlier mentioned “temporary burials” to “hold out until the end of the crisis”. “We are not there yet, I will not go into details,” he added during a press point.
Deaths are not only rising in hospitals, said Mark Levine. Before the crisis, 20 to 25 people died daily at their homes in New York. Now it’s 200 to 215, according to this elected official.
Overflowing funeral directors
Funeral directors confirmed that they were overwhelmed. Refrigerated trucks are now parked in front of many New York hospitals, so they can keep the bodies until the funeral services can pick them up.
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