New York has begun digging mass graves in its public cemetery with pictures showing wooden coffins stacked on top of each other.
The state of New York has confirmed almost 162,000 cases, 7,844 of which have died since the outbreak of Covid-19.
Recorded cases in the US state, which has a population of around 20 million, have surpassed that of any single country in the world.
Figures show that 1.6 million people have tested positive for the deadly bug worldwide - meaning that the state of New York accounts for more than 10 per cent of that statistic.
Footage captured on New York City’s Hart Island show how the number of burials have increased in the recent weeks.
The island has been used for more than 150 years by officials for people with no next-of-kin or families who cannot afford a funeral.
The bodies are normally buried by low-paid jail inmates working on the island, which is only accessible only by boat.
Shocking images taken from a drone show workers using ladders to climb into a huge pit on the island.
Before burial, the dead, without family, are wrapped in body bags and placed inside pine caskets, reports the Mirror.
The deceased's name is scrawled in large letters on each casket, which helps should a body need to be disinterred later.
Bodies are then buried in long narrow trenches excavated by digging machines.
Officials at the site normally bury around 25 bodies a week, but it is believed that the number has shot up amid the ongoing crisis.
The number of people who have died from coronavirus in the US topped 16,400 as of Thursday.
