State’s List of Nursing Home Deaths Undercounts Fatalities, Officials Allege

NEW YORK, NY – Healthcare professionals and elected officials say that the list of COVID-19-related nursing home deaths significantly undercounts the total number of fatalities, according to a report in The City. They allege the recently released data sheet only accounts for a third of the 3,316 deaths that have occurred in facilities across the state, because it excludes the deaths of residents who were transferred to hospitals, as well as deaths suspected to be caused by COVID-19 where no formal test was conducted. An asterisk on the sheet further notes that “some” of the nursing homes reported presumed COVID-19 deaths, implying that others did not.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo acknowledged to press in Albany that the list might be incomplete, noting that nursing homes self-report the number of deaths in their facilities to the state. “We only know what they tell us,” he said.

City Council member Mark Treyger (D-Brooklyn) elaborated that the lack of testing at nursing homes is deflating the number of self-reported deaths. He also worries that the lack of testing allows asymptomatic staff members to spread the disease among the residents. “I believe the situation at nursing homes is much worse than what’s being reported to the public,” Treyger said.

Brooklyn’s Bensonhurst Center for Rehabilitation and Healthcare reported the highest per capita number of COVID-19 deaths of any facility in the state, its 34 fatalities accounting for 17% of its residents.

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