Prisoners on Rikers Island will be used to dig mass graves if coronavirus decimates New York City (Pictures: AP)

Prisoners at New York’s notorious Rikers Island jail will be made to dig mass graves if a coronavirus epidemic decimates the United States’ most populous city.

New York City’s official Pandemic Influenza Surge Plan for managing in and out of hospital deaths stipulates that prisoners will be ferried to Hart Island, which sits off the Bronx in Long Island Sound, to dig huge pits for thousands of bodies to be buried in at once.

It assumes that 2.1% of New York City’s 8.62 million residents would die during a pandemic – equivalent to around 51,000 bodies. The plan would see mobile refrigerated storage units capable of housing up to 44 corpses placed across the city.

New York’s crematoriums would be asked to speed up their processes to dispose of dead bodies, with prisoner-dug graves on Hart Island a last resort if crematoriums are overwhelmed. The spit was previously used to quarantine yellow fever patients during the 19th century.

Rikers Island prisoners – who include rapist film producer Harvey Weinstein – have already been put to work manufacturing floral-scented hand sanitizer which will be distributed in the city to try and halt the spread of Covid-19, the disease caused by coronavirus.

Existing pandemic plans work on the basis that 2.1% of the city’s population will die – equivalent to 51,000 people (Picture: Getty)

New York magazine reported that while NYC is better prepared than most big cities for a pandemic, it could quickly find its medical facilities overwhelmed if coronavirus takes hold.

State guidelines estimate that 18,619 ventilators would be needed to treat patients suffering from breathing difficulties. Hospitals across New York City’s five boroughs currently have a total of 2,836 ventilators at their disposal.

Dr Kate Uraneck, who treated Ebola-stricken patients during a 2014 outbreak, said the amount of supplies needed just for one patient was ‘staggering.’

She explained: ‘Even with one patient, the cost and the amount of protective equipment we went through every day was amazing.’

The New York Times reported that city officials have been stockpiling supplies – including face masks – at three temperature-controlled warehouses in secret locations across the city.

Current inmates of Rikers Island include rapist film producer Harvey Weinstein (File photo/Getty)

Infectious disease expert Dr Amesh Adalja from Johns Hopkins University says New York has a ‘storied history’ with treating outbreaks, and is confident any coronavirus vaccine will be administered quickly after it has been approved for usage.

But experts warn that any such vaccine is still at least a year off being ready. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday that a total of 25 people have been diagnosed with coronavirus in New York City. The total number infected for the entire state is 147, with no deaths yet reported.

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A total of 754 people are confirmed to have been infected with coronavirus across the United States, with 26 people killed by Covid-19.

Across the world, 114,469 people have been infected, and 4,062 have died. A further 64,633 have recovered.