Staffers at a nursing home in New York City claim the facility is not being truthful about its number of coronavirus-related deaths during the pandemic.
Hebrew Home in Riverdale reported 25 deaths related to confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 in March and April, but two insiders told the New York Post that a total of 119 residents died during that time period, leading some to believe the home is downplaying its coronavirus death toll.
“Was it just an extremely unlucky period? Or is there some other explanation for what’s going on? It’s obvious that there is,” one insider said to the newspaper.
The New York Post also reported Saturday that the home is “barely” testing residents and that workers are “terrified about what the future is going to hold for them.” Documents reviewed by the outlet indicated that at least 71 staffers have been infected with the virus.
Recent data out of New York shows a rising number of coronavirus-related deaths in the state have happened in nursing homes. Nationally, some experts have predicted about half of all U.S. deaths could happen inside nursing homes.
“Our profession has been sounding the alarm for weeks and weeks, but we have largely been forgotten by the public health sector,” said Mark Parkinson, the CEO of the National Center for Assisted Living, earlier this month. “If we are not made a top priority, this situation will get worse with the most vulnerable in our society being lost.”
Nearly 80,000 people in the United States have died from the coronavirus, and more than 1.3 million cases have been confirmed in the U.S. as of Sunday morning.
