New video footage showed coffins being buried in a mass grave in New York City, as the number of coronavirus deaths in New York state increased to 799 on Thursday, a record high for a third day.

Iran Press/America: Images have emerged of coffins being buried in a mass grave in New York City, as the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak continues to rise.

Workers in hazmat outfits were seen using a ladder to descend into a huge pit where the coffins were stacked, BBC reported.

The location is Hart Island, used for New Yorkers with no next of kin or who could not afford a funeral.

New York state now has more coronavirus cases than any single country, according to the latest figures.

The state's confirmed caseload of COVID-19 jumped by 10,000 on Thursday to 159,937, of whom 7,000 have died.

On Thursday, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said 799 people in New York had died from coronavirus in a single 24-hour period — more than 33 an hour.

But epidemiologists, city officials, and medical personnel say those numbers are likely to be far below the city’s actual death toll.

Spain has had 153,000 cases and Italy 143,000, while China, where the virus emerged last year, has reported 82,000 cases.

The US as a whole has recorded 462,000 cases and nearly 16,500 deaths. Globally there are 1.6 million cases and 95,000 deaths.

The drone footage comes from Hart Island, off the Bronx in Long Island Sound, which has been used for more than 150 years by city officials as a mass burial site for those with no next-of-kin, or families who cannot afford funerals.

It is probable that many of the coffins are for coronavirus victims, but it is not clear whether they fall into the above categories.

Burial operations at the site have ramped up amid the pandemic from one day a week to five days a week, according to the Department of Corrections.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio indicated earlier this week that "temporary burials" might be necessary until the crisis had passed. 

The White House has previously touted estimates that 2.2 million Americans could die from coronavirus if nothing was done to stop its spread.

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