New York mulls emergency burial sites

A backhoe digs a large hole and deposits dirt into dump trucks on Hart Island, located in the Long Island sound, off the coast of the Bronx, New York, USA.

In the foreground is a grave marker in Pelham Cemetery in City Island, New York.

New York City officials have suggested the idea of temporary burials of victims of COVID-19 on the island, which is the country’s largest public burial ground, as well once being a Civil War prison camp, tuberculosis patient colony, and a burial site for unclaimed victims of HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s.

New York City is still the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States and there are continuing concerns that the health care system, and morgues, will be inundated with COVID-19 patients.

Via EPA-EFE/JUSTIN LANE