Gravediggers wearing protective suits perform exhumations at Vila Nova Cachoeirinha cemetery amid the COVID-19 outbreak in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on April 1, 2021. (Photo: Reuters-Yonhap News)
[Anchor]
Brazil's biggest city, Sao Paulo, has been speeding up efforts to empty old graves in cemeteries because of the soaring number of coronavirus deaths.
The city has reported over 74,000 fatalities and Brazil as a whole over 325,000, the second most in the world after the United States.
The BBC's Candace Piette reports.
[Reporter]
At the Vila Formosa cemetery in Sao Paulo, workers in masks and protective gear have been digging rows of graves under floodlights.
Similar scenes are being played out in the city's other cemeteries, with many now staying open until 10 at night.
Grave diggers have had to speed up the routine clearance of old graves to make more space for the stream of coffins arriving each day, many in school buses.
The city of Sao Paulo recorded over 400 burials on Tuesday, the most since the pandemic began.
Officials say they expect the situation to get worse as Sao Paulo's health service becomes overwhelmed.
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