Brooklyn, New York City — With summer approaching, many people want this lengthy pandemic to come to an end, however, the country can not recover for various reasons including the undercounting of deaths within nursing homes. 

Governor Andrew Cuomo was questioned about this matter that he has brushed aside in past conferences, but the number revealed that there were actually around 12,743 deaths, but only 8,505 bodies were reported, leaving more than 4,000 deaths unaccounted for. 

When the pandemic hit the United States, the people that everyone was most worried about were the elderly. It was proven that they were more vulnerable than anyone else to get the virus, spread it, and unfortunately not be able to fight it off. So why were they not more closely monitored? 

Jolissa Jones spoke out about her experience with her father, Joseph L. Jones, residing at a nursing home during the early onset of the pandemic. Mr. Jones, 82, resided in a nursing home before the pandemic began and his daughter felt anxious about leaving home there, but the idea of bringing him home was just as frightening. 

Jolissa Jones said, “On the news, there were so many reports that only elderly people were getting it and it scared me but I was worried about [our] house being more dangerous.” 

With her working in the medical field, her husband, and her kids, Ms. Jones didn’t know what the best option would be. Even though Jones did not have any issues with contacting the nursing home, she said “Before the pandemic got serious, you could go in, and then when they stopped visiting I was really worried about him.” 

Ultimately, Jones decided to make several adjustments in her home so that she could move her father out of the nursing home in order to prevent anything from happening. 

“Overall I feel that there is no purpose in hiding the number of deaths because it will do less good than harm. I think the City’s undercounting deaths doesn’t make it any easier for the families,” said Ms. Jones.