A new report published by the Associated Press is raising concerns that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo”™s administration has severely underrepresented the number of nursing home fatalities during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The report, titled “New York”™s True Nursing Home Death Toll Cloaked in Secrecy,” observed that the official tally of just over 6,600 deaths only covered individuals who passed away from Covid-19 at the nursing homes and did not include those who died after being transported to hospitals for additional medical care.
In May, federal regulators began to require nursing homes to submit data on Covid-19 deaths each week, whether or not residents died in the facility or at a hospital, but that occurred after the peak of New York”™s Covid-19 crisis.
Yet the Associated Press found the state was undercounting the death toll after the May mandate, claiming 195 deaths between early June and mid-July; federal data determined there were 323 deaths during that period.
Furthermore, the report noted that the New York State Health Department surveys found 21,000 nursing home beds are lying empty this year, which is 13,000 more than expected. Although some of the empty beds could be attributed to fewer people being admitted to nursing homes and residents being withdrawn by family members, the report noted the figure “suggests that many others who aren”™t there anymore died.”
Cuomo issued an executive order on March 25 order that enabled Covid-19 hospital patients to be assigned to nursing homes in order to alleviate crowded conditions at hospitals. The executive order was published on the state government”™s website, but was abruptly erased from the site in early May after the governor was criticized for putting infected hospital patients in nursing homes.
The Health Department later released an internal report claiming the nursing home deaths were primarily due to asymptomatic home staff members spreading of the virus and not the 6,300 patients moved to the nursing homes. But the Associated Press pointed out that report has been criticized by epidemiologists and academics for relying on questionable data.
Cuomo has dismissed the attention over the nursing home fatalities as being nothing more than the machinations of his political foes.
“I think you”™d have to be blind to think it”™s not political,” he said during a news conference yesterday. “Just look at where it comes from and look at the sources and look at their political affiliation and look at what publications raise it and what media networks raise it. It”™s kind of incredible.”
When asked if he would allow an independent nonpartisan investigator to probe the matter, Cuomo responded, “There is no such thing as a person who is trusted by all Democrats and Republicans. That person doesn”™t exist.”
Everybody but Cuomo and his goons think his policy of forcing nursing homes to take in Covid positive patients killed thousands of senior citizens.
And why did Cuomo give the nursing home operators immunity in this years budget? Especially after they donated heavily to his campaign? It stinks to high heaven.
Are the 13,000 more than expected empty beds inclusive of the +6000 deaths? So is there a possible addition of ~7000 deaths or 13,000 (minus whoever was removed by family members)? Thank you.