NYC Is Now Counting 'Probable' COVID-19 Deaths

Move puts city's death toll above 10K
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Apr 14, 2020 6:43 PM CDT
NYC Death Toll Soars Above 10K
In this April 9, 202 photo, workers wearing personal protective equipment bury bodies in a trench on Hart Island in the Bronx borough of New York.   (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

The official death toll from the coronavirus soared in New York City on Tuesday after officials began including people who probably had COVID-19, but died without ever being tested. City officials reported 3,778 "probable" deaths, where doctors were certain enough of the cause of death to list it on the death certificate, and 6,589 confirmed by a lab test. Combined, that would put the total fatalities in the city over 10,000. "Behind every death is a friend, a family member, a loved one. We are focused on ensuring that every New Yorker who died because of COVID-19 gets counted," said Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot.

"While these data reflect the tragic impact that the virus has had on our city, they will also help us to determine the scale and scope of the epidemic and guide us in our decisions," Barbot said. New Yorkers with COVID-19 continue to die at an unnerving pace even as the number of patients in hospitals levels off, the AP reports. State officials earlier in the day said 778 deaths were recorded statewide Monday, bringing the statewide total to more than 10,800. That figure, though, did not factor in the probable deaths now being counted in New York City.

(More coronavirus stories.)

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