By Kevin Deutsch and Sasha Gonzales
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With thousands of coronavirus deaths already recorded in New York’s senior and adult care homes, state investigators on Friday opened a probe into whether a Bronx facility is underreporting it’s COVID-19 death toll—a tally staffers claim is more than a dozen.
A state official told Bronx Justice News multiple employees at Bronxwood Assisted Living in Williamsbridge have reported a lack of personal protection equipment and supplies, no face coverings for residents, and mismanagement by administrators, leading to the deaths of 12 or more residents at the home.
This, despite the fact the adult care facility has reported fewer than five coronavirus deaths to the state, the official said.
Bronxwood administrators have denied any wrongdoing.
“Bronxwood has complied with all NYSDOH protocols, including the specific protocols relating to PPE, quarantining, and daily reporting to the NYSDOH,” the facility told NY1 in a statement.
More than 3,500 New Yorkers have already died from coronavirus in state nursing homes and adult care centers, leading Gov. Andrew Cuomo to announce increased state oversight of those facilities amid the pandemic
“If they cannot care for the person in the facility, then they have to transfer the person to another facility,” Cuomo said.
Facilities that knowingly misreport data, or otherwise violate state laws and policies, can be fined or shut down.
Bronx residents make up a disproportionate number of New Yorkers killed by the coronavirus, with more than 31,900 confirmed infections and at least 2,937 suspected COVID-19 deaths recorded in the borough as of Wednesday night, according to city data.