COVID-19: Brazil Digs Hundreds Of Graves In Preparation For Deaths

Disturbing aerial photos show dozens of freshly excavated graves at Brazil's biggest cemetery after the country's death toll hit 329 and cases soar to 8,076.

The spike in coronavirus cases in the South American nation has forced workers at the 780,000-square meter burial ground to increase the number of plots to a site that already has more than 1.5 million graves.

Oswaldo dos Santos stood by this week as he watched several men in protective suits dig a hasty grave for his 36-year-old son at Cemitério de Vila Formosa, the largest cemetery in Latin America.

His grief was mixed with fear: What if he had the coronavirus? What if they all did?

Such is the case these days in Brazil where patients typically go several days waiting for their results to confirm if they are infected with the deadly disease that had killed 329 people and sickened 8,076 as of Friday.

Dos Santos lived with his son until Sunday, when he was suddenly hospitalized with severe respiratory problems. Like so many now filling the graves in Brazil's biggest cemetery, the son died before getting his coronavirus test result.

'I think he had the disease,' Dos Santos said as from the cemetery in Vila Formosa, on the outskirts of Sao Paulo.

The burial took 10 minutes, under new guidelines to limit crowds and contagion.

The grave diggers of Vila Formosa are working at a grueling pace, as their load has doubled to almost 60 burials per day. Workers are convinced the coronavirus is quietly killing far more than official statistics show.

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