ALBANY, NY – The New York Attorney General has accused the Cuomo government of committing coronavirus-related deaths at nursing homes by as much as 50 percent, according to a report released Thursday.
The death toll in state nursing homes has been a source of controversy for governments Andrew M. Cuomo and State Health Department officials, who were sensitive to any suggestion that they would play any role in the number of deaths in the nursing home, which the state more than 8,500.
They are also accused of obscuring a more accurate estimate of deaths in nursing homes, because the state only counted deaths at the actual facilities, rather than the deaths of residents who were transferred to a hospital and died there, to include.
In the 76-page report released by Attorney General Letitia James, a survey of nursing homes found that there were inequalities between deaths reported to Attorneys General investigators and those who officially released by the Department of Health.
In one case, an unnamed facility reported that 11 confirmed and suspected deaths to the Department of Health had occurred at the site before the beginning of August. However, the Attorney General’s survey of the same facility found 40 deaths, including 27 at home and 13 in hospitals.
“Preliminary data obtained by OAG indicate that many residents of nursing homes died of Covid-19 in hospitals after being transferred from their nursing homes, which is not reflected in the total published nursing home data of DOH,” reads a summary of the findings of the report.
The findings of Mrs. James, a Democrat, could put her in direct conflict with Mr. Cuomo, the state’s three-time Democratic official, posted what he and his government had said in response to the coronavirus crisis, despite more than 42,000 deaths in the state. .
The report of Mrs. James also found that a number of homes “do not comply with critical infection policies”, including not isolating residents who tested positive for the virus or examining employees for it.
The death toll in the state’s nursing homes was a source of anxiety for residents and their families, and a political responsibility for Mr. Cuomo, who has refuted accusations that his government has not done enough to protect a highly vulnerable population. In particular, Mr. Cuomo criticized a March 25 memo from the Department of Health recommending that nursing homes accept patients who tested positive.
In late July, the Department of Health released a report refuting the allegation that the policy could have led to outbreaks in nursing homes, and found that most of the patients were “no longer contagious when admitted and therefore was not a source of infection. ” The report also concluded that the virus is more likely to be spread by employees who do not know they are contagious.