New York City Biological Outbreak Pandemic Plans Include Burying Bodies In Mass Graves

By Aaron Kesel

The coronavirus should be taken very seriously; at the same time, we shouldn't give into fear. However, we need to still stay informed. Now it's coming out that NYC has plans to deal with the outbreak by burying bodies in mass graves.

If the coronavirus outbreak were to get out of control in New York City, government officials apparently have a plan for how to deal with all the dead bodies.

The plan, developed by the chief medical examiner in 2008, would see refrigerated units placed outside hospitals to store the dead temporarily, and mass graves dug by Rikers Island prisoners. The bodies would then be buried in various locations, including Hart Island, an old prison site for confederate soldiers.

The plan was developed in 2008 by the city's late chief medical examiner, Charles Hirsch, in response to concerns that Bird Flu would cause the next pandemic influenza. But, as Hirsch states in the report, the plan can be used to tackle "other biological outbreaks" that cause mass fatalities. In other words, the coronavirus.

The plan was developed for a pandemic that has a 2% mortality rate, the same approximate death rate as the coronavirus. The World Health Organization recently declared the coronavirus a "pandemic," after kicking the can down the road for weeks.

WHO chief Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the number of cases outside China had increased 13-fold in two weeks. He said he was "deeply concerned" by "alarming levels of inaction."

Tedros called on governments to change the course of the outbreak by taking "urgent and aggressive action."

"Several countries have demonstrated that this virus can be suppressed and controlled," he said.

The challenge for many countries who are now dealing with large clusters or community transmission is not whether they can do the same - it's whether they will.

At the time of the initial plan, New York City had a population of 8.2 million, so it was estimated that the city would be dealing with more than 51,000 dead bodies. New York state is reporting 216 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 52 of those in New York City.

There are now more than 1,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection across the U.S., 38 people have died, with deaths in Washington (30), California (4), Florida (2), New Jersey (1) and South Dakota (1). So far, there have been no reported deaths in New York at the time of this report. Still, New York City has enacted at least one quarantine zone, and Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced that he is sending National Guard troops into a New York City suburb to help tackle what is now believed to be the nation’s biggest cluster of coronavirus cases in New Rochelle, The Guardian reported.

U.S. health officials announced they would send out test kits for as many as 400,000 people by the end of last week, with additional tests being sent out in the coming weeks, Reuters reported.

COVID-19 has spread to all continents except Antarctica and over 100 countries, with an estimated official count of — 127,749 cases global, 4,717 deaths, and 68,305 recovered, according to the Johns Hopkins map at the time of this report.

U.S. President Donald Trump has suspended all travel from Europe to the U.S. for the next 30 days, a travel ban that oddly does not include Great Britain. Trump also said that health insurance companies would provide coverage for coronavirus treatments and waive any related co-payments, The New York Times reported.

For most people, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms such as a fever and cough. However, according to Chinese state media, some are not experiencing any of these symptoms and are instead experiencing nausea, diarrhea, tiredness, bad concentration, headache, irregular heartbeat, chest pain, cornea inflammation, and muscular pains in the limbs, back, and waist.

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, effects can include pneumonia and even prove to be fatal. Chinese doctors have also recently expressed that autopsies of coronavirus patients suggest the deadly illness is “like a combination of SARS and AIDS” that can cause “irreversible” lung damage.

Federally funded tests conducted by scientists from several major institutions indicated that the novel form of coronavirus can survive in the air for several hours, The Hill reported.

German doctors have also determined the virus has the ability to stick on surfaces and objects for at least up to 9 days. China has also announced that the virus is airborne with a potential rare incubation rate of 24 days. However, some estimates are much higher with the Global Times reporting that one woman who was infected in Wuhan didn’t start showing symptoms until a massive 42 days later.

Best preventive measures include washing your hands, and avoiding public places and large gathering areas where someone may be sick, according to the CDC.

Its important to note that the above plan in New York City is a theoretical design and does not need to take place, it's more of a blueprint. The U.S. military has its own preparation options if the coronavirus gets out of hand, setting up several quarantine centers, as Activist Post previously reported.

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By [@An0nkn0wledge](https://steemit.com/@an0nkn0wledge)

Aaron Kesel writes for Activist Post. Support us at Patreon. Follow us on Minds, Steemit, SoMee, BitChute, Facebook and Twitter.

Image: Anthony Freda Art

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