The coronavirus death toll jumped by more than 200 in Suffolk County and by 952 across New York State, according to new data released by the State Health Department last night.
Coronavirus fatalities in Suffolk County now stand at 1,574, up from the 1,347 total coronavirus fatalities reported in Suffolk County May 5. New York State is now reporting 20,597 total deaths due to the virus.
The state did not update the data until late last night.
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The jump of 227 deaths in Suffolk County is the largest one-day increase in fatalities reported since the outbreak began. The sharp increase in deaths statewide is also far higher than the 232 new deaths Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced at his briefing earlier in the day.
The state’s COVID-19 tracker, which usually releases daily data by 2 p.m., states that yesterday’s dramatic increase in fatalities reflects both new data as well as identification of confirmed fatalities within nursing homes and adult care facilities.
But only 34 new deaths – both confirmed and presumed COVID-19 – have been reported in Suffolk County nursing homes and adult care facilities since May 3, when the state last updated its nursing home data. Deaths in those facilities would therefore represent only a small portion of the new 227 deaths reported in Suffolk County last night.
Suffolk also experienced the sharpest increase in deaths across the downstate region in the updated data – more than five times the amount of deaths Suffolk reported the previous day.
Until last night’s report, coronavirus fatalities in Suffolk County had been climbing at an average of 28 daily deaths for the past week – about half the previous peak of 62 new deaths reported in early April.
In yesterday’s updated data, New York City reported 298 new deaths, more than twice the 129 deaths reported the previous day. Nassau County reported 75 new deaths in the new data, compared to 29 from the previous day.
The new data represents a 497% increase in fatalities in Suffolk County over the day before, a 158% increase in Nassau County, a 131% increase in New York City and a 314% increase statewide.
It is not clear whether this sharp increase is the result of some kind of retrospective adjustment beyond the explanation of new nursing home deaths provided in the state’s Covid-19 tracker.
The State Department of Health website did not provide any additional explanation. A spokesperson for the state health department could not immediately be reached.
A Suffolk County spokesperson declined comment, saying the county executive would address this issue in today’s media briefing.
With yesterday’s new data, COVID-19 fatalities in New York passed the 20,000 mark, with the state reporting 20,597 confirmed deaths from the coronavirus.
Deaths of residents in long-term care facilities in Suffolk rose to 665 as of May 5, up from 631 on May 3.
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