SHAMING OF AMERICA

In the richest country on Earth, in sight of the gleaming towers of the Big Apple, dozens are buried in mass graves at the height of the virus crisis.. with many too poor to have their own resting place

- CHRISTOPHER BUCKTIN

NEW York, now the global epicentre of the pandemic, has begun burying its unclaimed dead in a graveyard that is the final resting place of those who die poor and alone.

Harrowing images show people in hazmat suits excavating mass graves on Hart Island in the Bronx, and coffins being lowered in.

Around 25 bodies – usually people who cannot afford a funeral or who are not claimed by family – are interred there each week in normal times.

Now the weekly figure is close to 120.

Mayoral spokeswoman Freddi Goldstein said: “For decades, Hart Island has been used to lay to rest [dead people] who have not been claimed by family.

“We will continue using the island in that fashion in this crisis.”

The city has cut from 30 days to 14 the time it will hold unclaimed remains before they are buried on Hart Island. Ms Goldstein said: “These are people who, for two weeks, we have not been able to find anyone who says, ‘I know that person, I love that person, I will handle the burial’.”

In New York, which has more coronavirus deaths than many nations, burials have quadrupled. Governor Andrew Cuomo said: “We’ve lost over 7,000 lives to this crisis. That is so painful, I don’t even have the words for it.”

He has signed an emergency executive order making it easier for licensed funeral directors from other states to practise in New York.