New York may have counted thousands of deaths from COVID-19 among nursing home residents, the state attorney general accused Thursday in a report that dealt a severe blow to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s repeated claims that the their condition is improving than others by protecting them vulnerable.
The 76-page report found less than 50%, backing the findings of an Associated Press investigation last year that focused on the fact that New York is one of the only states in the world. nation that has residents who died in the nursing home. property and not those who later died in hospitals.
Such a low count would mean the state’s current official toll of 8,711 deaths in nursing homes from the virus is actually more than 13,000, raising New York’s number 6 to the highest in the country.
“While we cannot recover the people we have lost in the face of this crisis, this report seeks to provide the transparency the public deserves,” Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement.
The report from a fellow Democratic official undermined Cuomo’s frequent argument that criticism of his handling of the virus in nursing homes was part of a political “blame game,” and was a claim for thousands of families who believed that their loved ones were being omitted. from the counts to advancing the governor’s image as a pandemic hero.
“It’s important to me that my mother be counted,” said Vivian Zayas, whose 78-year-old mother died in April after hiring COVID-19 at a nursing home in West Islip, New York. “Families like mine knew those numbers weren’t right.”
The Cuomo office and the state health department have not responded to repeated requests for comment.
James has been examining for months the discrepancies between the number of deaths reported by the state Department of Health and the number of deaths reported by the homes themselves.
His researchers examined a sample of 62 of the state’s approximately 600 nursing homes. They reported 1,914 deaths of COVID-19 residents, while the State Department of Health recorded only 1,229 deaths at these same facilities. An unnamed facility, for example, had an official death toll of 11, but the attorney general’s investigation found that 40 had actually died.
The PA’s analysis in August concluded that the state could underestimate deaths by up to 65%, based on discrepancies between its totals and figures reported to federal regulators. This analysis was based, like James’s report, on only a portion of data, rather than a complete appearance.
To date, despite PA public records requests and repeated requests from state and federal lawmakers, the New York Department of Health has not yet produced the full number of nursing home residents who died in the hospitals, in addition to the ownership of the residences. Health Commissioner Howard Zucker has said several times that the state is working on this data.
State Senator Gustavo Rivera, a Democrat who has criticized the Cuomo administration for its incomplete death toll, said he was “unfortunately not surprised” by the report.
“Families who lost loved ones deserve honest answers,” Rivera said. “For your own good, I hope this report will help us raise awareness of the truth and put in place policies to prevent these tragedies in the future.”
Cuomo, who published a book last fall supporting his leadership in the fight against the virus, has not been shy about using the lower death toll in New York nursing homes. to argue that his condition is better than others in the care of those in these facilities.
“There’s also no doubt we’re in this hyper-political environment, so everyone wants to point fingers,” Cuomo told CBS “This Morning” in October. “In New York, in fact, we are number 46 out of 50 in terms of the percentage of deaths in nursing homes: 46 out of 50. So, yes, people died in nursing homes. … but 46 out of 50, it’s not a predominantly New York problem. “
The attorney general’s report also pointed to New York’s controversial March 25 policy that sought to create more space in hospitals by releasing COVID-19 patients in recovery to residences, which critics said was a factor. which caused outbreaks of residences.
The James report said these admissions “may have contributed to an increased risk of infection by residents in the nursing home and subsequent deaths,” noting that at least 4,000 residents of residences with COVID-19 died after ‘this guide. But the James report said the issue would require further study to conclusively demonstrate this link.
The New York Department of Health released a much-criticized report last summer stating that the March 25 policy, which was reversed in May, was not a “significant factor” in the deaths.
James ’review also found that lack of infection controls in nursing homes put residents at greater risk of harm, while nursing homes that had lower federal staffing scores had mortality rates. by COVID-19 higher.
“As the pandemic and our investigations continue,” he wrote, “it is imperative to understand why New York City residents suffered unnecessarily at such an alarming rate.”