Footage reveals coronavirus mass grave in New York

Footage has emerged of workers in protective gear burying dozens of bodies in a mass grave in New York as the number of fatalities from the coronavirus continues to rise in the US state.

The aerial images showed workers putting caskets into deep trenches in a one-mile, limited-access strip on New York’s Hart Island, located at the western end of Long Island Sound in the northeast Bronx, Which has over the years been used for burying mostly homeless people and families that cannot afford a funeral.

Officials said the burials have been ramping up at the site as the New York state currently has more coronavirus cases than any single country.

About 25 bodies a week are buried on the island and the burials are now happening five days a week, with around 24 burials each day, according to the US Department of Correction.

About 40 coffins were lined up for burial on the island on Thursday, and two fresh trenches had been dug in recent days.

New York, the worst-hit state by the coronavirus outbreak, registered a record-breaking increase in fatalities for a third consecutive day on Thursday.

The number of deaths in the state of New York rose by 799 to more than 7,000, after increases of 779 the day before, and 731 the day before that.

MG