NY Contingency Plans Include Using Parks for Temporary Interment Sites

UPDATED (April 7, 2020 4:45 p.m.): Chairman of New York City Council Health Committee, Mark D. Levine recanted his statement about New York parks being used for temporary internment as a part of a contingency plan set forth by the city.

In a Twitter thread he announced that after conversations with city government personnel that temporary internment is needed it will be done on Hart Island in a dignified manner.

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic that has no clear end insight, New York State as well as other states are making contingency plans to try to get ahead of the damage the virus has already caused and has yet to cause.

One of New York’s contingency plans is to start temporary internment. According to a tweet the Chairman of New York City Council Health Committee, Mark D. Levine.

The location for these temporary burial plots is said to be in New York parks. This contingency plan has not gone into effect yet but is a likely possibility for managing NY’s coronavirus victims. Although a spokesperson for Mayor Bill de Blasio denies the contingency plan remarks made by Levine.

NBC news reported that the nation has surpassed 10,000 deaths as of Monday April 6, 2020.

New York State has approximately 5,000 coronavirus related deaths, with half of those deaths said to be in New York City alone. According to Levine’s tweets those deaths are undercounted because people whose COVID-19 status is discovered after their death are not marked as coronavirus victims on their death certificates.

With the startling numbers of diagnoses and deaths increasing, Governor Cuomo has increased the fine for violating state mandated social distancing orders from $500 to $1,000. With no exceptions being made. Not even for funeral attendees.

Several funerals have been broken up for violating the social distancing order in New York, which mandates people to maintain a distance of 6 feet, since it has taken effect. One funeral In Brooklyn was reported to be broken up over the weekend. It is unclear how many people, if any, were fined.

Many people have posted their virtual attendance to their loved one’s funerals, birthdays, and other celebrations via video chat on social media. It seems as if this may be the new normal for the nation.