The coronavirus pandemic has forced us to consider things that we normally overlook. For example the amount of germs that can be spread between two people with just one short conversation. The pandemic has forced the city, state, and the federal governments to do things that might have never even been thought of when there wasn’t a pandemic. However, one of the more unpleasant things that we must consider amid a pandemic, are bodies and morgues. As the coronavirus continues to spread, there will inevitably be more deaths. In New York State there are 319,000 confirmed cases, and 19,415 deaths. At the beginning of April, New York City had deployed 45 mobile morgues. These mobile morgues can store up to 3,500 bodies. Towards the end of March, when the virus really began to spread quickly, New York City posted over forty jobs for mortuary technicians. Med Alliance Group is a distributor of medical supplies based in Illinois. The group has been transporting refrigerated trailers throughout the country to accomodate the needs of many cities. Additionally, the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office is working with the New York City Emergency Management in order to provide health care facilities with the trailers.
The amount of bodies that a morgue can accommodate really depends on the size of the morgue. However, most morgues are not usually prepared for a pandemic in which hundreds of thousands of people will die. Few morgues can hold more than a few hundred people, and with New York City’s morgues at nearly full capacity, further action must be taken to accommodate the dead. Small hospital morgues, which are being overwhelmed by the amount of bodies, must send the bodies to the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office where they will be temporarily stored.
Now, mass graves on Hart Island are being used to bury victims of coronavirus. Over one thousand bodies are buried on Hart Island each year, and that number is projected to increase drastically this year. Since Hart Island was purchased by New York City in 1869, around one million people have been buried there. Due to the chaos of the pandemic, bodies that are not claimed within 14 can be moved to be buried in Hart Island. However, after the madness of the pandemic calms down, families will be able to obtain the coffins of their loved ones.
