Citing privacy issues, at least in some instances, employers have been reluctant to disclose the deaths of health care workers fighting the coronavirus, a Detroit Free Press investigation finds.

The virus is the suspected cause of death in Michigan for at least 16 people who worked in hospitals, nursing homes, group homes and health insurance — more than the six workers their employers have acknowledged, according to reporters Jennifer Dixon and Kristen Jordan Shamus. A union official confirmed a seventh.

The paper cites examples of employers being reluctant to disclose deaths including an interview with Audrey Gregory, the chief executive officer at the Detroit Medical Center, who said she didn't know if any employees had died from Covid or suspected complications.

"I don't know yet what cause of death is for employees who have passed away. I do not have any employees who have passed away in our hospitals. And so I wouldn't be able to tell you exactly in terms of employee deaths tied to COVID," Gregory said in the interview.

The Free Press later learned through an unnamed source that the DMC suspected that the virus contributed to the deaths of three employees: one who died at home, one who died at Michigan Medicine and one who died in a DMC hospital.

Asked about the deaths, DMC spokesman Brian Taylor, said via email: