COVID-19 Deaths Among New York Nursing Home Residents Rise by 40 Percent

A medic from Empress EMS loads a suspected COVID-19 patient from the Regency Extended Care Center into an ambulance in Yonkers, N.Y., on April 7, 2020. John Moore/Getty Images

Almost 4,000 nursing home residents in New York have died from COVID-19 after being moved to hospitals, state health officials disclosed Thursday, increasing the death toll among those elderly by more than 40 percent.

New York made the unusual move last year to split deaths among the group, only releasing figures for residents who died in nursing facilities.