The official daily death count had stayed relatively flat, going from 309 on from March 31 to 290 on April 5, according the health department’s website. During that same period, according to the fire department data, the number of daily deaths at home among people with COVID-19-like symptoms rose from 167 to 241. . .Before the coronavirus outbreak, the lieutenant said, the five boroughs averaged 10 to 20 calls a day that resulted in death.
My understanding is that the official COVID-19 numbers do not include home deaths, which have been increasing rapidly. People who died at home may not be tested for the virus, and they are not part of the figures from hospitals.
The home death figures are a week old; I have not been able to find more recent information. New York officials appear to be ignoring a large part of the problem.
Are the numbers that show a leveling off in the number of deaths overly optimistic?
It appears that the city will start to count home deaths, but it is not clear how many are included in the official figures coming out now:
People who have passed away at home and likely had the disease but didn’t have a positive coronavirus test could be added to the reports. “The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is sending us reports of “probable” Covid-19 cases,” Buhle said. “We’re working together to include these cases in future reports.”
It is odd that the most recent report about this issue is from a Los Angeles television station.
