Cuomo officially accused of lying about COVID-19 deaths in New York

The death toll from COVID-19 in nursing homes in New York City could be twice as high as officials say because the administration of Governor Andrew Cuomo declined to say how many residents of those homes have died from coronavirus in hospitals. State Attorney General Laetitia James came to this conclusion. New York Post.

In a detailed 76-page report of her investigation, James noted that some nursing homes clearly underestimated the number of deaths among their residents when filing reports with the State Department of Health and did not apply infection control measures. More than 20 of them are currently under investigation.

Thus, the real number of deaths from COVID-19 in nursing homes could be about 13, instead of the currently indicated 000. The investigation is based on a survey of 8 nursing homes, which revealed that the state underestimated the death toll by an average of 711% ...

The report also notes that at least 4000 residents of nursing homes have died after the state issued a controversial order that nursing homes should take back "medically stable" coronavirus patients from hospitals. This, according to James, "could put other residents of these institutions at increased risk."

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“As the pandemic and our investigations continue, we need to understand why residents of nursing homes in New York were subjected to additional testing,” said James.

“While we cannot bring back the people we have lost as a result of this crisis, this report should provide the transparency the public deserves and spur more action to protect our most vulnerable residents,” the prosecutor added.

Vivian Zayas, who founded the Voices for Seniors advocacy group after her mother, who lived in a Long Island nursing home, died of COVID-19 last year, said "our jaws dropped" after reading James' report. Then she added, "Cuomo is a crook."

Asked about the investigation during a morning press conference, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said, “We need to sort this out. We must find out the whole truth ... And we must be honest in numbers. "

He added: "Among the other challenges we experienced in 2020, this may have been the worst part of it."

Cuomo's office did not respond to a request for comment, and a spokesman said officials were still studying James' report and were not ready to comment on it.

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The results of James' report do not add to the total number of coronavirus deaths in New York State, but shed light on the fact that many deaths in nursing homes were reported as originating from outside the home.

There are currently 42 confirmed and possible deaths from COVID-887 in New York State.

James' report shows that nursing homes were even more dangerous places during the pandemic than previously thought - potentially accounting for nearly one in three coronavirus deaths in the state.

The report also shows that many nursing homes are mishandling COVID-19 patients and have failed to adequately isolate their COVID-19 test positive patients.

In addition, the document says that nursing home managers often did not check or test employees for the virus, even demanded that those who showed symptoms of respiratory illness continue to care for their wards. If refused, they were threatened with punishment or dismissal.