Jarrod Sockwell spent the final days of his life in his Brooklyn home with a fever, cough and no appetite, fearing he had the novel coronavirus.

A New York City middle-school paraprofessional and high-school football coach, Mr. Sockwell had earlier gone to an emergency room to seek treatment after not feeling well. Doctors tested him for the virus, diagnosed him with pneumonia and sent him home because his oxygen levels were too high for admission.

As he waited for the test results, Mr. Sockwell, 38 years old, rested in bed and fielded calls from concerned family and friends.

“You better start eating and drinking. I’m not about to have my heart broken,” his lifelong mentor, Hans Marryshow, said to him during a March 31 phone call. “OK, Pop. That’s what I’m going to do,” Mr. Sockwell replied.

Two days later, Fire Department of New York paramedics responded to Mr. Sockwell’s home after his fiancee found him unresponsive. Mr. Sockwell was pronounced dead in his bedroom. Paramedics reported that he died of cardiac arrest, according to FDNY records, but friends and family believe it was triggered by Covid-19 complications.


Hours after his death, his fiancee got his test results showing he was infected.

“I’m still asking a lot of questions,” his fiancee, Tamara Desrosiers, said.

Jarrod Sockwell, a high-school football coach, died in his Brooklyn bedroom.

Mr. Sockwell is among the thousands of people in New York City who are suspected to have died from Covid-19 but either didn’t get tested or died before their results came back.

The city said on Tuesday that some of them would be included in its preliminary death tally for the virus. As of Wednesday, 3,778 people who fit that category had been added, bringing the city’s death toll to more than 10,000. People who died at home accounted for nearly 22% of the 3,778.


In some home deaths, the deceased believed they had the virus and went to an emergency room to be treated, but weren’t tested or admitted because they didn’t exhibit severe enough symptoms. In other cases, some people who died at home had tested positive but appeared to be doing all right in fighting the disease when they suddenly took a turn for the worse.

“There’s so much guilt in my whole family, we feel we should have been more aggressive,” said Andrea Dier Castro, whose 85-year-old father died at his home in Kensington, Brooklyn, on April 6.

Her dad, Daniel Dier, suffered from kidney and heart problems and had survived a stroke, she said. On the night of April 3, he was taken by ambulance to Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn because his family suspected he was experiencing renal failure and seemed light-headed, Ms. Dier Castro said.

Doctors ran tests and scanned his lungs, she said. They said it was likely Covid-19, but they didn’t test him for the virus, she said.


He was sent home the next morning in an ambulance because he didn’t have trouble breathing or a fever, according to his daughter.

Mr. Dier, a veteran and retired printer, collapsed and died at his home a day later. FDNY records show he died of cardiac arrest. The city Medical Examiner’s Office later ruled his death Covid-19 related.

“He was a fighter. He could have fought this in the hospital,” his daughter said.

A spokeswoman for the hospital declined to comment on Mr. Dier, citing patient privacy.

Daniel Dier, a veteran and retired printer, also succumbed at home in Brooklyn.

Decisions about admissions are made based on objective scoring systems that measure factors such as blood pressure and how much oxygen support is needed, said Dr. Kelly Michelson, director of the Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, speaking generally. The scarce resources amid the coronavirus pandemic makes the process more challenging, she said.


Ari Moraitis, 48, died alone in his Bayside, Queens, home after he appeared to be doing well battling the disease.

A telephone maintainer for New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Mr. Moraitis came down with a fever and diarrhea toward the end of March. He went to the emergency room at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens about two weeks ago, where he was tested for the virus, his brother Evan Moraitis said. The hospital prescribed a course of antibiotics and Tylenol, Evan said, and sent his brother home.

A few days later, the hospital told Ari his test had come back positive, Evan said. The medication appeared to help, though Ari had a fever and a slight cough.

On April 7, Ari didn’t respond to texts. He didn’t pick up when Evan called. Evan went to his brother’s house. He banged on doors and windows. Finally, he broke into his brother’s garage, retrieved a ladder and climbed through a second-story window. There, at around 1 p.m., he found his brother’s body lying in the hallway, face down.

“He didn’t have crazy symptoms where he sounded like he was dying or anything,” Evan said.

Long Island Jewish Medical Center, in a statement, said: “Sadly, the hospital has seen some Covid cases involving other young, seemingly healthy patients whose symptoms get progressively worse five to seven days into the course of treatment.”

Ari Moraitis was found lying face down in his hallway by his brother in Queens. Photo: Kelly Kritsotakis

Mr. Sockwell was 6-foot-3 and weighed more than 300 pounds. He had high blood pressure and diabetes but was determined to get in shape for his 2021 wedding.

On March 20, Mr. Sockwell said he wasn’t feeling well. His friend Malcolm Moshette said he took Mr. Sockwell to SUNY Downstate Medical Center on March 23, but he was back home within hours, “because his oxygen level was OK.”

A spokesperson for SUNY Downstate declined to comment on Mr. Sockwell, citing patient privacy.

Two days before his death, paramedics responded to a March 31 call at Mr. Sockwell’s home for a cardiac condition, according to FDNY records. Mr. Sockwell refused medical care and transport to a hospital, the records show.

On the morning of April 2, Mr. Moshette and Mr. Sockwell’s brother, Scott Alexander, say Ms. Desrosiers summoned them to the home. When they arrived, paramedics were administering CPR to Mr. Sockwell. Mr. Moshette stood outside the room, until he heard Ms. Desrosiers’ scream.

—Ben Chapman contributed to this article.

Keiko Neutz, 87, died of Covid-19 in March. Her family wasn't able to be by her side, so they said goodbye through a series of video chats. Photos: Neutz family

Write to Lee Hawkins at lee.hawkins@wsj.com, Paul Berger at Paul.Berger@wsj.com and Katie Honan at Katie.Honan@wsj.com