How Many People Have Died From Coronavirus In New York? New Report Says The Numbers Are Inaccurate

COVID-19 killed four times more people than had been expected, including those who were unable to get treatment for other ailments as the healthcare system was overwhelmed, a report by the New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said.

The pandemic has hit New York City harder than anywhere else in the country. Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday the city will be unable to open before June 7 at the earliest “unless something miraculous happens” while Gov. Mario Cuomo said he would allow certain localities elsewhere in the state to begin opening Friday – but only after certain Centers for Disease Control and Prevention standards are met.

“This is the next big step in this historic journey,” Cuomo said at his daily press briefing. “We’re now on the other side of the mountain. … Let’s just remember where we were before we take the step forward.”

The report, published Monday by the CDC, said there were 32,107 deaths between March 11 to May 2, more than 24,000 more than the city would have expected during the period based on past trends. COVID-19 was tied to 18,879 excess deaths.

“Counting only confirmed or probable COVID-19-associated deaths, however, likely underestimates the number of deaths attributable to the pandemic,” the report said.

It continued: “Monitoring of all-cause deaths and estimating excess mortality during the pandemic provides a more sensitive measure of the total number of deaths than would be recorded by counting laboratory-confirmed or probable COVID-19-associated deaths. Tracking excess mortality is important to understanding the contribution to the death rate from both COVID-19 disease and the lack of availability of care for non-COVID conditions.”

Some 5,293 deaths were not tied directly to the pandemic but may be tied to a lack of resources that resulted from the deluge of coronavirus cases.

As of Sunday, the city reported 178,755 positive coronavirus tests with confirmed deaths numbering 14,753 and probable deaths numbering 5,178. Nearly 45,000 people remained hospitalized.