US: Hundreds of bodies of Covid-19 victims still in refrigerated trucks
There are still hundreds of bodies of Covid-19 victims being kept in refrigerated trucks in New York, USA, and have not been buried.
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| Hundreds of bodies of Covid-19 victims in the US have been stored in refrigerated trucks since April. Photo: Reuters |
New York City, USA is still using refrigerated trucks to preserve the bodies of Covid-19 victims. These trucks were used as temporary morgues during the peak of the pandemic in New York, the No. 1 Covid-19 hotspot in the US a year ago.
The New York City medical examiner's office said on May 7 that 750 bodies of Covid-19 victims are still being stored in refrigerated trucks at the Brooklyn wharf, while their families seek suitable solutions.
Many of the bodies will likely be buried on Hart Island, according to Dina Maniotis, an official with the city's medical examiner's office.
In April 2020, New York City reduced the time it had to store unclaimed bodies to 14 days before burying them on Hart Island. At the time, local officials said it was only a temporary solution and that the bodies would be removed.
According to The City news site, there are about 500 - 800 bodies of Covid-19 victims stored in refrigerated trucks since April 2020. This figure is calculated based on estimates from the City Medical Examiner's Office and Columbia University.
The US Federal Emergency Management Agency in 2020 mobilized 85 refrigerated trucks to serve as temporary morgues, when the number of deaths from Covid-19 overwhelmed the morgue system at New York hospitals.