Report: Mich. possibly undercounted true number of COVID deaths

June 4, 2021 Carley Shaffer US 0

SOUTHFIELD, MICHIGAN - OCTOBER 16: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer introduces Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden delivers remarks about health care at Beech Woods Recreation Center October 16, 2020 in Southfield,m Michigan. With 18 days until the election, Biden is campaigning in Michigan, a state President Donald Trump won in 2016 by less than 11,000 votes, the narrowest margin of victory in the state's presidential election history. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

SOUTHFIELD, MICHIGAN – OCTOBER 16: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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UPDATED 1:05 PM PT – Friday, June 4, 2021

New reports indicate Michigan’s nursing home death toll may be higher than previously reported. Critics are calling for an audit into the true number of nursing home deaths Michigan saw during the COVID-19 pandemic after a report indicated some facilities may have been undercounted.

Until this week, more than 5,600 nursing home deaths had attributed to the virus accounting for more than 30 percent of deaths statewide. Yet, now a report from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy indicates the true figure could be closer to 9,000.

FALMOUTH, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 25: Della Lilley visits and holds her mother, 89-year old Betty Whiteman, for the first time in two months after successfully passing a rapid Covid-19 test at the King Charles Court Care Home, on November 25, 2020 in Falmouth, England. The home is one of 20 across Cornwall, Hampshire and Devon that are participating in a pilot programme using the Innova SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Rapid Qualitative test to screen residents' family members and friends for Covid-19, to permit more meaningful visits. (Photo by Hugh Hastings/Getty Images)

Della Lilley visits and holds her mother, 89-year old Betty Whiteman, for the first time in two months. (Photo by Hugh Hastings/Getty Images)

“We’ve had an additional 5,500 vital records found which, assuming if the rate holds, you can’t necessarily do that, but if that holds it’s an additional 2,400 nursing home deaths in Michigan that haven’t been accounted for and that is an underestimate,” said Rep. Steven Johnson (R).

Johnson added that Michigan’s residents deserve to know how many people have died as a result of the Governor’s decision to place COVID-19 positive patients in nursing homes. This has surfaced as Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-Mich.) is also battling critics from all sides who have slammed her for her strict lockdown procedures.