Trump accuses NYC of padding its coronavirus death toll

President Trump on Wednesday questioned Mayor Invoice de Blasio’s revised coronavirus death toll — a day after New York Metropolis revised the way it tracks fatalities by including greater than 3,700 victims who died of obvious coronavirus signs and have been by no means examined.

“I see this morning the place New York added 3,000 [sic] deaths as a result of they died. Fairly than [a] coronary heart assault, they are saying coronary heart assault attributable to this,” he mentioned in the course of the day by day briefing of the Coronavirus Process Power, referring to COVID-19.

Responding to a query concerning the staggering US death toll, which topped 27,000 Wednesday, the president recommended that the Large Apple added the brand new deaths to the tally “simply in case” the victims had the virus.

“When you take a look at it, that’s it. All the things now we have is documented and reported nice. What they’re doing is simply in case — that’s OK. Now we have extra circumstances as a result of we do extra reporting.”

Freddi Goldstein, a spokeswoman for de Blasio, ripped Trump’s remarks.

“These have been folks with names, hobbies, lives. They depart behind grieving family members. They should be acknowledged, not minimized,” she mentioned.

Town introduced Tuesday that greater than 10,000 folks have died of coronavirus in New York Metropolis, together with 3,778 circumstances during which somebody by no means received examined for it, some of whom by no means made it to a hospital.

The replace got here after The Publish reported final week that the town’s death tally was brief by hundreds of folks on account of a surge in New Yorkers who have been dying at residence.

Possible coronavirus deaths have been extra widespread than confirmed coronavirus deaths amongst victims age 75 and older, in line with the town Well being Division.

Possible COVID-19 fatalities have been additionally extra prone to happen in Manhattan and Brooklyn in comparison with the opposite boroughs, the info reveals.

Greater than 90 % of confirmed COVID-19 deaths occurred at metropolis hospitals whereas about 60 % of possible coronavirus fatalities occurred in hospitals.

The opposite 40 % of possible coronavirus victims died at their very own properties or in nursing properties.