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In April 2020, images supposedly showing mass graves being dug in New York to bury those who died during the COVID-19 coronavirus disease pandemic started to circulate on social media: A drone video supposedly showing these mass graves was also passed around social media: While the above-displayed media is genuine — large trenches are being dug on Hart Island in order to accommodate an influx of deceased individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic — there were some misconceptions on social media about these mass graves. For starters, some readers seemed to be under the impression that all people who died of COVID-19 in New York would be buried in these graves. But that’s not the case. New York City Mayor Press Secretary Freddi Goldstein told CNN that this burial site, as it has been for the last 150 years, will be used to bury the deceased who have not been claimed by their next of kin. CNN reports: Goldstein said that the city morgue typically sends bodies to Hart Island if they go unclaimed for 30 to 60 days. As of this writing, because New York has seen an increase in deaths as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the medical examiner's office said that they will send bodies to Hart Island after two weeks. Goldstein said: Hart Island has also seen an increase in burials. According to Jason Kersten, a spokesman for the Department of Corrections, which typically oversees the burials, said that prison inmates typically bury about 25 bodies on Hart Island each week. Kersten, who said that inmates are not currently working to bury the deceased due to social distancing rules, said that Hart Island is now seeing about two dozen bodies a day: Reuters reported: City officials hope that all of the burials on Hart Island are temporary interments. All caskets are marked with the hope that individuals will eventually be claimed for proper burial. To sum up: New York’s Hart Island has been used as a burial site for unclaimed persons for more than 150 years. In April 2020, additional trenches were dug on the island to accommodate for an increase in unclaimed burials during the COVID-19 pandemic. While it’s unclear how many of the recently deceased died from the disease, the number of burials on Hart Island increased from about 25 a week to 25 a day.
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