At the worst of the pandemic in New York, refrigerated trucks were parked outside hospitals to store the remains of patients who died from Covid-19. A year later, hundreds of the deceased are still in these trailers, awaiting burial.
At the time, in the spring of 2020, hospital morgues as well as funeral homes were overwhelmed by the influx of Covid-19 victims. According to Wall Street Journal, the forensic pathologist’s office, equipped to accommodate some 20 daily remains in normal times, was entrusted with up to 200 deceased per day in April 2020.
These trucks therefore served as an emergency solution, making it possible to keep the bodies in good condition, while waiting for the situation to improve. But, a year later, local authorities reveal that around 750 dead are still stored in around 40 refrigerated trailers. These are now stationed at Brooklyn, along the seafront.
The announcement, which took place last week during a city council, in particular angered Marc Gjonaji, one of the elected officials, who compared the treatment of these remains to that reserved for unclaimed luggage, dropped off at found objects.
Committed “work” with families
Dina Maniotis, deputy commissioner of the city’s forensic doctors office, nevertheless defends herself against any lack of respect towards these deceased. She ensures that “work” is engaged with each of their families to be able to offer them a burial worthy of the name as soon as possible.
Hundreds of bodies of covid-19 victims are still in New York’s refrigerated trucks more than a year into the pandemic https://t.co/OfdeJcc8a9
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) May 10, 2021
The official indicates that many of these victims of Covid-19 could, at the request of their relatives, be buried on Hart Island, where the largest mass grave in the United States is located. Just over a mile long, this island off the Bronx has long been the burial site of New York’s unclaimed dead. Today, it also has individual graves.
Data collected by Columbia University, in partnership with the New York media The City, reveal that one in 10 New Yorkers who died from Covid-19 in 2020 were buried on Hart Island. The city’s medical examiner’s office reported 2,666 burials on the island in 2020, up from 1,100 to 1,200 in previous years.
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