Cuomo Allegedly Undercounted NY Nursing Home COVID Deaths

A new report is accusing Governor Andrew Cuomo and his administration of undercounting deaths in nursing homes caused by COVID-19.

The New York Times reports that the New York State Attorney General, Letitia James, has accused the Governor Cuomo administration of undercounting COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes. New York A.G. James accuses Cuomo and his administration of undercounting by as much as 50%.

According to the New York Times, Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York State Health Department officials have recorded nursing home deaths from CVOID-19 at over 8,500. But the accusations from the New York A.G. office say that Cuomo and his administration have also obscured a more accurate estimate of nursing home deaths due to COVID-19 because they only counted deaths at facilities. A.G. James suggests that the Cumo administration did not include nursing home residents who were transferred to a hospital and died there. For example, a scenario in the report from the A.G.'s office found that a nursing home had 11 reported and presumed deaths to the Health Department. But when the A.G.'s office investigated the same facility, there were 40 deaths found. 27 of the deaths happened at the nursing home and 13 happened in hospitals. The facilities are unnamed by the New York Times.

In July 2020, the New York Times reports that the New York State Health Department released a report that denied the state's policy led to outbreaks of COVID-19 in nursing homes. At the beginning of the pandemic, New York State's policy was that nursing homes had to accept CVOID-19 patients. According to the New York Times, there have been over 42,000 COVID-19 related deaths in New York State.