Prisoners in New York wearing hazmat suits have been seen burying the dead in makeshift mass graves on the city's Hart Island, as the number of coronavirus victims grows.

Around 45 wooden caskets - some of which had names carved into them - appeared to be lowered in freshly dug trenches on Thursday.

The caskets, which bore names including “Abraham” and “Rogers", were pictured by Reuters news agency being lifted out of refrigerated trucks by inmates from nearby Rikers Island jail.

Bill de Blasio, New York’s mayor, has not confirmed whether burials for coronavirus victims had been or would take place there but indicated this week the city might resort to using the island for temporary burials during the pandemic.

In the past, the island has been used as a burial ground for victims of the 1919 Spanish Flu pandemic.