Coronavirus: New York City to freeze bodies of Covid-19 victims over temporary burial on Hart Island

Island is used by the city as burial site for unclaimed bodies

New York City will freeze the bodies of Covid-19 victims instead of burying them on Hart Island, the city’s designated burial ground for unclaimed bodies.

The temporary initiative was put in place to ease the strain on hospitals and funeral homes, both of which have seen an increase in bodies due to the number of deaths from the novel virus.

The New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner made the announcement as the number of coronavirus cases in the city tipped 142,000 and the death toll reached 10,977.

Opting to freeze the bodies for the time being instead of doing temporary burials on Hart Island would allow the families of the victims to take time to make funeral arrangements amid the pandemic. Due to an ordinance forbidding large gatherings, families have opted for intimate services or decided to hold off on funerals.

The bodies currently in temporary morgues and refrigerated trucks outside hospitals would be transferred to freezer trucks in Brooklyn, according to the city’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. The Air Force Mortuary Affairs would assist in moving the bodies.

This decision comes after the city sparked a backlash when pictures and videos surfaced of a large trench being dug on Hart Island.

People expressed concern the trench was for “mass burials” of Covid-19 victims.

“The pictures of our fellow New Yorkers being buried on Hart Island are devastating for all of us. I want to make sure everyone knows what they’re seeing and what is actually happening on Hart Island,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement at the time. “Remember, these are human beings. These are neighbours we’ve lost.”

The mayor went on to state there were no plans for any “mass burial” on Hart Island to account for people who have died during the pandemic. Instead, anyone buried there would be “treated with dignity”.

“We do not anticipate temporary burials on Hart Island except for the unclaimed,” he added.

New York City has since confirmed bodies would be frozen over any temporary burials. But the Covid-19 victims who are not claimed by loved ones would still be buried on Hart Island.

The island, located at the western end of Long Island Sound, has been used by the city for the last 150 years as a public cemetery and is managed by the department of corrections.

Individuals buried on the island are “because their identity is unknown at the time of their death and a next of kin could not be located to arrange for burial services, because the individual’s family could not afford burial costs, or because the individual’s family preferred that their loved one be buried on Hart Island”, according to the government’s website.