{"id":65438,"date":"2020-04-10T12:14:53","date_gmt":"2020-04-10T12:14:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=65438"},"modified":"2025-02-03T08:09:43","modified_gmt":"2025-02-03T08:09:43","slug":"coronavirus-new-york-using-mass-graves-amid-outbreak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/world-news\/coronavirus-new-york-using-mass-graves-amid-outbreak.html","title":{"rendered":"Coronavirus: New York using mass graves amid outbreak"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\nWorkers in hazmat outfits were seen using a ladder to descend into a huge pit where the coffins were stacked.<\/span><\/div>\n
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\nThe location is Hart Island, used for New Yorkers with no next of kin or who could not afford a funeral.<\/span><\/div>\n
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\nNew York state now has more coronavirus cases than any single country, according to latest figures.<\/span><\/div>\n
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\nThe state’s confirmed caseload of Covid-19 jumped by 10,000 on Thursday to 159,937, of whom 7,000 have died.<\/span><\/div>\n
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\nSpain has had 153,000 cases and Italy 143,000, while China, where the virus emerged last year, has reported 82,000 cases.<\/span><\/div>\n
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\nThe US as a whole has recorded 462,000 cases and nearly 16,500 deaths. Globally there are 1.6 million cases and 95,000 deaths.<\/span><\/div>\n
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\nThe drone footage comes from Hart Island, off the Bronx in Long Island Sound, which has been used for more than 150 years by city officials as a mass burial site for those with no next-of-kin, or families who cannot afford funerals.<\/span><\/div>\n
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\nIt is probable that many of the coffins are for coronavirus victims, but it is not clear whether they fall into the above categories.<\/span><\/div>\n
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\nBurial operations at the site have ramped up amid the pandemic from one day a week to five days a week, according to the Department of Corrections.<\/span><\/div>\n
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\nOne virus, two Americas<\/span><\/div>\n
\nFour out of five jobs affected by virus globally<\/span><\/div>\n
\nPrisoners from Rikers Island, the city’s main jail complex, usually do the job, but the rising workload has recently been taken over by contractors.<\/span><\/div>\n
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\nNew York City Mayor Bill de Blasio indicated earlier this week that “temporary burials” might be necessary until the crisis had passed. <\/span><\/div>\n
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\n“Obviously the place we have used historically is Hart Island,” he said.<\/span><\/div>\n
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\nThe number of coronavirus deaths in New York state increased by 799 on Wednesday, a record high for a third day.<\/span><\/div>\n
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\nBut Governor Andrew Cuomo took heart from the fact that the number of Covid-19 patients admitted to New York hospitals dropped for a second day, to 200.<\/span><\/div>\n
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\nHe said it was a sign social distancing was working. He called the outbreak a “silent explosion that ripples through society with the same randomness, the same evil that we saw on 9\/11”.<\/span><\/div>\n
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\nAnother glimmer of hope was heralded on Thursday as official projections for the nationwide death toll were lowered.<\/span><\/div>\n
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