GRIM

NYC Coronavirus Death Toll Surges by 3,700 After Officials Start Including Presumptive Cases

The death toll soared above 10,000 on Tuesday after the city’s health department said they would include people who never tested positive but presumably died from coronavirus.

New York City’s coronavirus death toll surged past the grim 10,000 benchmark on Tuesday after the city’s health department revised their counting process to include people who never tested positive for coronavirus but most likely died from it. Health officials added an additional 3,700 deaths to the coronavirus death toll. They had been keeping track of New Yorkers who were exhibiting symptoms consistent with the coronavirus, but Mayor Bill de Blasio only decided to release those numbers after briefings last weekend, The New York Times reported. “In the heat of battle, our primary focus has been on saving lives,” said de Blasio’s press secretary, Freddi Goldstein. “As soon as the issue was raised, the mayor immediately moved to release the data.”