New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday said the city added “probable” coronavirus-related deaths to its tally to give a picture of the “full extent” of the crisis.
“The fact is we have to be honest and always acknowledge the full impact, the human impact, the impact on families this disease has had,” Mr. de Blasio said on CNN’s “New Day.”
The city’s health department on Tuesday had added more than 3,700 “probable” COVID-19 deaths to its toll, bringing the city’s total to 10,367 deaths among a population of about 8.6 million people.
Mr. de Blasio said the total could reflect, for example, that medical professionals at the time couldn’t confirm a death was COVID-19-related because there might not have been a test available, but they thought that’s what it was.
“We should be honest about the full extent of this,” he said. “And that, bluntly, should inspire us to really get it right.”
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday had reported that 10,834 people have died from the coronavirus in the entire state, home to nearly 20 million people.
Mr. Cuomo has acknowledged that there could be an undercounting of people who had died from the virus, since people who die in their homes could slip through the cracks in terms of the data the state is receiving.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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