Corona Daily 139: Indignity

Even before the pandemic started, USA had a huge problem of unclaimed dead bodies. Around the country, medical examiners were flooded with cadavers nobody claimed. This was partly attributed to the opioid epidemic. The drug overdose deaths grew 10% annually in certain years. Cash-poor cities like Detroit have no policy and few resources. They scatter human remains in haphazard ways. After the earlier financial crisis, there were a couple of high-profile scandals with unclaimed bodies stuffed in refrigerated trailers.

The Coronavirus pandemic made the situation catastrophic. People started dying every minute in hospitals, nursing homes, at homes. Strict covid regulations and lockdowns meant many relatives couldn’t reach the deceased. In some cases, authorities were so overwhelmed, they had to transfer the dead person before finding the family. The dead had to make way for the sick. Funerals and cemetery plots are expensive. Americans in dire economic state sometimes opted to not claim the body.

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I mentioned Hart island in the previous article. This place was unknown to most New Yorkers before the pandemic. This largest public cemetery in America is the graveyard of the last resort. Generally, the poor, forgotten or lonely were buried here. Half a mile from the Bronx, this island has served this purpose since 1869, and has sheltered the victims of the Spanish flu, tuberculosis, AIDS and now Covid-19.

Burials here lack dignity. Bodies are stacked by hundreds in long muddy trenches. Plain pine boxes are loaded one on another. Since the 1950s, there are never any ceremonies, just a simple burial. The plots don’t have unique markers. AIDS victims were buried here by those wearing protective gear, until it was found AIDS doesn’t transmit through air or by touch.

Burying is done by prisoners. 10% of New York city is resting on this island. In 2019, 846 New Yorkers were brought here. In 2020, the number shot up to 2,334. Initially, short-term prisoners were put on the job. When the world was not working, why were they made to work, they thought. With the numbers growing, pre-trial detainees were added to the task force. Then the prison officers became ill with covid-19. The virus was spreading among the prisoners. They were released. Private contractors brought in 40 workers, but most of them refused to start the assignment on learning the job description.

Hart island has no electricity. It is isolated from the city. It can be reached only by a ferry. Because the prison department is in charge of the island, visiting it is difficult – unless you are dead. Visits are allowed once a month, and after some serious form-filling. It is expected that by 2027, Hart Island will have no capacity left.

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In 2016, New York banned unclaimed body donations. So, pathology students or medical schools can no longer receive them.

In the first year of the pandemic, New York city has lost nearly 35,000 people. Some remains are with foreign consulates, at various funeral homes, makeshift storages and trucks. As of today, some 800 bodies are languishing in refrigerated trucks.

During the first wave, shelves were placed inside trailers at hospitals to double the storage capacity. But the shelves were unstable. When the trailers moved, the shelves and the bodies they carried started collapsing.

In April, it was decided to set up a disaster morgue on the 39th street’s Pier in Sunset Park. This long-term storage facility can hold at least 1500 bodies. Storage is free, and there is no time limit.

Long-term freezer storage in containers is a pandemic outcome. It appears to be more socially acceptable than an unceremonious burial on Hart island. In the second wave; hospitals, funeral directors and city medical examiner’s office started discussing how to store hundreds of bodies over long stretches.

Many of the unclaimed bodies belonged to the uninsured urban poor. Now the Biden administration has offered a reimbursement of up to $9000 for funeral expenses. Cost should no longer be a reason for not claiming a body.

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The nearly 3000 toll of 9/11 is dwarfed by covid numbers. New York’s 9/11 memorial and museum are considered the fabric of New York city. Now, there is a demand for building a memorial for Covid-19 victims. Perhaps New York will wait till the end of the pandemic before planning the memorial.

Ravi