Death toll soars after NYC counts 'probable' fatalities

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The official death toll from the coronavirus soared in New York City after authorities began including people who died without ever being tested. City officials reported 3,778 “probable” deaths, where doctors were certain enough of the cause of death to list it on the death certificate. Combined with virus deaths confirmed by a lab test, that would put the total fatalities in the city over 10,000. The change in the city’s accounting of fatalities came after officials acknowledged that statistics based only on laboratory-confirmed tests were failing to account for many people dying at home before they ever reached a hospital.