- Hospitals around New York City are using refrigerated trucks as makeshift morgues to deal with the crisis
- Each truck is capable of holding up to 44 bodies as city officials struggle to deal with coronavirus pandemic
- City officials said this is the biggest deployment of makeshift morgues since the September 11, 2001, attacks
- As of Sunday evening, 33,768 residents of New York City tested positive for coronavirus, the most in nation
- President Trump on Sunday admitted that at least 100,000 Americans could die of the disease
- Trump said the administration is extending the coronavirus guidelines until April 30 – a 30 day extension
- As of Sunday night, there were more than 142,600 cases of coronavirus in the US and nearly 2,500 deaths
- It came as Mayor Bill de Blasio said individuals who did not listen to social distancing rules may face fines of up to $500
- Coronavirus symptoms: what are they and should you see a doctor?
Refrigeration trucks are in place as workers build a makeshift morgue outside of Bellevue Hospital to handle an expected surge in coronavirus victims on March 25 in New York.(Sam Costanza/for New York Daily News)
The clip posted to Youtube shows medical staff using a forklift to load the bodies into the makeshift morgue truck outside the Brooklyn Hospital Center in Fort Greene, according to the man filming the video who did not identify himself. As the man shoots the surreal footage, he is heard saying, ‘This is for real. This is Brooklyn.
They putting the bodies in the 18-wheeler…this is no joke…this is Brooklyn Hospital…This may make you want to take this serious.’ As of Monday morning, New York has had just under 60,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and at least 965 deaths related to the outbreak, which has completely overrun hospitals and emergency services around the city.
With more than 954 deaths across New York State from complications of coronavirus, funeral homes have had to make changes to the way they do business. Bodies are being stored locally by some hospitals in refrigeration trucks on-site, including a massive morgue set up at Bellevue Hospital. It was unclear how many bodies were being stored there pending funeral arrangements, but officials have said they have added excess capacity for “worst-case scenarios.”