WHEREAS, The collecting and sharing of information with
respect to COVID-19 infection rates, locations of positive
COVID-19 cases, mortality data and other information within the
purview of the Department of Health is vital to contain the
virus and inform the public; and
WHEREAS, The Bureau of Health Statistics and Registries of
the Department of Health is responsible for the death
certificates of all individuals who have died in this
Commonwealth, including individuals who have died for reasons
other than COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, The coroners and medical examiners in this
Commonwealth are responsible for investigating deaths that occur
in this Commonwealth due to a communicable disease; and
WHEREAS, In late April of 2020, the Pennsylvania State
Coroners Association publicly stated that there was a conflict
between the number of COVID-19 deaths reported by the Department
of Health and the number of COVID-19 deaths reported by coroners
in this Commonwealth; and
WHEREAS, Due to the alarming conflict in the number of COVID-
19 deaths reported by the Department of Health and coroners in
this Commonwealth, the Department of Health removed hundreds of
deceased individuals from the Department of Health's list of
COVID-19 deaths without an explanation or a review of the death
certificates for the removed individuals; and
WHEREAS, On May 26, 2020, the Department of Health released a
report specifying the number of COVID-19 cases discovered in
nursing homes; and
WHEREAS, Upon the release of the Department of Health's
report, nursing homes immediately contested the information in
the report, including information in the report stating that
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