Photos and videos showed caskets being buried in trenches on Hart Island, in New York City.
The images are heartbreaking and disturbing, but New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio wants everyone to know that each body of the deceased is being cared for and treated with utmost dignity.
After aerial images of a supposed "mass burial" started circulating the internet this week, de Blasio took to Twitter to tactfully explain that Hart Island has been used for decades as a burial ground "when there is no one else to make burial arrangements."
The pictures of our fellow New Yorkers being buried on Hart Island are devastating for all of us.
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) April 10, 2020
I want to make sure everyone knows what they’re seeing and what is actually happening on Hart Island.
Remember, these are human beings. These are neighbors we've lost.
More details are provided in the thread of tweets that followed:
Ordinarily, the bodies of 25 people per week are buried on Hart Island. Sadly, because of the death toll the COVID-19 outbreak has had on New York City, the number has increased to 24 per day. In the photos, 40 caskets can be seen lined up and stacked in a freshly dug trench.
"The heartbreaking numbers of deaths we're seeing means we are sadly losing more people without family or friends to bury them privately," de Blasio said. "Those are the people who will be buried on Hart Island, with every measure of respect and dignity New York City can provide."
Here is the aerial footage that was posted on YouTube by the Washington Post. Warning: It's devastating and sobering—regardless of the circumstances—that anybody would pass away and need to be buried without being surrounded by people who love them.
What are your thoughts? Please leave a comment. And please stay safe.