Nearly 15,000 Covid-19 deaths have been recorded in New York nursing homes and adult care facilities, data shows

The New York State Department of Health is continuing to release data shedding more light on Covid-19 deaths among residents in the state’s long-term care facilities, after a state Supreme Court judge ordered the department to fulfill a watchdog group’s Freedom of Information request.

The health department has recorded nearly 15,000 confirmed and presumed Covid-19 deaths among long-term care facility residents in the state since March 1, the data shows — the vast majority of which were nursing home resident deaths.

The data comes after the state attorney general’s office said in a late January report that the health department undercounted Covid-19 deaths among nursing home residents by about 50%.

What the new data shows

The long-term facilities covered in the data include both nursing homes and adult care facilities, but the health department data makes a distinction between the two sub-categories: It defines ‘adult care facilities’ as assisted-living facilities and other congregate care settings that are not licensed to provide full medical services, while ‘nursing homes’ are considered a separate group defined as “places to live where care is available for people of all ages who need 24-hour nursing care and supervision outside of a hospital,” in accordance with New York public health law.

Updated data posted on the health department’s website Monday shows 13,235 confirmed and presumed- positive Covid-19 deaths of nursing home residents since March 1. About 4,091 of those deaths occurred after a resident was transported out of a nursing home.

Out of the 613 registered nursing homes in New York, 556 recorded Covid-19 deaths, the data shows.

There were also about 1,743 confirmed and presumed- positive Covid-19 deaths among residents of adult-care facilities since March 1, new data shows. About 1,493 of those deaths occurred after a resident was transported elsewhere from an adult care facility, according to data not previously shared with the public.

Out of the 544 registered adult care facilities in the state, 315 recorded Covid-19 deaths.

More data is expected to be released by Wednesday.