Cuomo Under Fire for Under-reported COVID Deaths in Nursing Homes

New York City, NY — New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is under fire for under-reported COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes after Attorney General’s investigation.

The study found that nursing home deaths were under-reported by as much as 50 percent — a complete failure by government leadership.

The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) contacted 62 nursing homes for information. The nursing homes reported 1,914 deaths to the OAG. Only 1,229 deaths were published by the Department of Health.

This latest bombshell development undercuts the book Cuomo recently released on “leadership” during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Government guidance requiring the admission of COVID-19 patients into nursing homes may have put residents at increased risk of harm in some facilities and may have obscured the data available to assess that risk.
Nursing Home Response to COVID-19 Pandemic, New York State Office of the Attorney General Letitia James, January 2021

So, (out of the 62 facilities investigated) the DOH published 685 fewer deaths than nursing homes reported to the OAG. That is a difference of 55.72 percent. One of the facilities reported a discrepancy of 29 deaths between their Aug. 3 report and the OAG investigation.

The report noted that, “Government guidance requiring the admission of COVID-19 patients into nursing homes may have put residents at increased risk of harm in some facilities and may have obscured the data available to assess that risk.”

This note references guidance issued by Cuomo in March.

The guidance stated “No resident shall be denied re-admission or admission to the NH solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19.” Cuomo also ordered nursing homes not to require COVID-19 testing for admittance into the nursing homes.

New York is currently reporting over 8,700 confirmed and presumed deaths related to COVID-19 in nursing homes. The vast majority of those deaths occurred by Aug. 3, when Cuomo first came under fire for his order to place COVID-19 patients back in nursing homes.