The Michigan Office of the Auditor General identified 8,061 deaths connected to long-term care through July last year — 42 percent more than the state’s official count of 5,675, according to a long-awaited report.

The findings are sure to reignite partisan disagreement over Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s handling of the pandemic — but both her administration and Auditor General Doug Ringler agree that much of the difference in the numbers comes down to the way deaths are counted.

Among the discrepancies were 923 deaths in facilities not required to report long-term care deaths to the state at all, Ringler found.