WASHINGTON, 11 April 2020:
Deaths worldwide from Covid-19 surpassed 100,000 and the number of cases stand at more than 1.65 million, according to the Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
The US leads in infections, with nearly 476,000, while Europe collectively accounts for 799,000. More than 368,000 people have recovered from the illness, including 77,791 in China, where the outbreak began.
Deaths in New York state from Covid-19 reached 7,844 yesterday – more than a third of all coronavirus fatalities in the US and officials acknowledged some victims of the pandemic here in the Big Apple may be laid to rest temporarily in common graves.
Drone footage showed workers using earth-moving machinery to dig two large trenches on Hart Island, a public city cemetery long used by New York City to bury unclaimed bodies. The footage also included images of caskets being lowered into the trenches.
In a normal week, around 25 bodies are buried on Hart Island, which is run by the city’s Department of Corrections, but the number is now closer to 25 per day, department spokesman Jason Kersten said.
The surge in burials on the island coincides with a decision by the medical examiner’s office to shorten the time bodies will be held in storage waiting for someone to claim them from 30 days to two weeks.
At the same time, many New York City hospitals have refrigerated trucks parked outside to accommodate the bodies of coronavirus fatalities, while some 200 Big Apple residents a day are dying in their homes, compared with a historical daily average of 25.
“The pictures of our fellow New Yorkers being buried on Hart Island are devastating for all of us,” mayor Bill de Blasio wrote on Twitter.
“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 neighbours we’ve lost.
“There will be no mass burials on Hart Island. Everything will be individual and every body will be treated with dignity.
“These are people who no one after a period of time has claimed them, and not just Covid-19 victims, but victims of all diseases, all reasons for fatality.
“So because there’s just been unfortunately more people passing away, including those who are not claimed by any family, that’s what’s been happening at Hart Island.”
During his daily news briefing on the crisis, New York state governor Andrew Cuomo said the coronavirus claimed another 777 lives overnight, down slightly from Thursday’s record of 799.
“We continue to lose a great number of lives. The levelling off of the number of lives lost is a somewhat hopeful sign,” he said, noting yesterday also marked the first day since the start of the crisis that the number of Covid-19 patients in hospital intensive care units (ICUs) went down, albeit by only 17.
The governor said his administration was “cautiously optimistic” that thanks to social distancing and the near-shutdown of the state’s economy, “we are flattening the curve.”
Cuomo also said officials are becoming more confident that New York’s health-care system has enough ICU beds and ventilators to cope with the situation.
New Yorkers should continue to stay home, “because that works,” he said as Jews marked the third day of Passover and Christians prepared to celebrate Easter.
“We are in total control of our destiny here. What we do will affect literally life and death for hundreds of people.”
New York City accounts for 92,000 of the 170,000 confirmed cases in the Empire State and for the lion’s share of the deaths, according to the independent tally kept by scientists at Johns Hopkins University.
Meanwhile, World Health Organisation director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that lifting restrictions “too quickly” could lead to a deadly resurgence of Covid-19.
Noting at a regular press briefing that “some countries are already planning the transition out of stay-at-home restrictions,” the WHO chief warned: “The way down can be as dangerous as the way up if not managed properly,” underlining that the WHO is working with affected countries on strategies for gradually and safely easing restrictions.
Some European countries are already considering relaxing their restriction measures as they see a slowing trend in the number of Covid-19 infections.
Austria, for instance, aims to gradually ease the exit restrictions and reopen shops and businesses from mid-April. Switzerland also suggested “the first relaxations” by the end of April.
The WHO chief stressed that decision of lifting restrictions should be made on the condition transmission is controlled; sufficient public health and medical services are available; outbreak risks in special settings like long-term care facilities are minimised; preventive measures are in place in workplaces, schools and other places where it’s essential for people to go; importation risks can be managed; and that communities are fully aware and engaged in the transition.
– EFE, Bernama