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New York City may have underestimated COVID-19 deaths among nursing home residents by the thousands, the state attorney general on Thursday accused a report that dealt a blow to the often-repeated claims of the Governor Andrew Cuomo that his state is doing better than others to protect its best. vulnerable.
The 76-page report found an undercoverage of more than 50%, confirming the findings of an Associated Press investigation last year that investigated New York City is one of the only states in the country counting residents who died in a nursing home. property and not those who later died in hospitals.
Such an undercoverage would mean the state’s current official tally of 8,711 nursing home deaths from the virus is actually over 13,000, taking New York City from No.6 to the highest in the country.
“While we cannot bring back the people we have lost in this crisis, this report seeks to provide the transparency the public deserves,” Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement.
The report by a senior Democratic colleague undermined Cuomo’s frequent argument that criticism of his handling of the virus in nursing homes was part of a political ‘blame game’, and it was a justification for thousands of families who believed their loved ones were missing. accounts to advance the image of the governor as the hero of the pandemic.
“It’s important to me that my mother was counted,” said Vivian Zayas, whose 78-year-old mother died in April after contracting COVID-19 at a nursing home in West Islip, New York. “Families like mine knew these numbers weren’t correct.”
Cuomo’s office and the state’s health department did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
James has been examining for months the discrepancies between the number of deaths reported by the state’s Department of Health and the number of deaths reported by the outbreaks themselves.
Its investigators examined a sample of 62 of the state’s 600 or so nursing homes. They reported 1,914 resident deaths from COVID-19, while the State Department of Health recorded just 1,229 deaths at those same facilities. An anonymous establishment, for example, had an official death toll of 11, but the attorney general’s investigation found that 40 had in fact died.
AP’s analysis in August concluded that the state could underestimate deaths by up to 65%, based on the discrepancies between its totals and figures reported to federal regulators. This analysis was, like James’ report, based only on a slice of data, rather than a full overview.
To date, despite requests for public records from the PA and repeated calls from state and federal lawmakers, the New York Department of Health has yet to produce the full number of residents of the homes. who died in hospitals as well as in nursing home property. Health Commissioner Howard Zucker has repeatedly said the state is working on the data.
State Senator Gustavo Rivera, a Democrat who criticized the Cuomo administration for its incomplete count, said he was “sadly not surprised” by the report.
“Families who have lost loved ones deserve honest answers,” Rivera said. “For them, I hope this report will help us uncover the truth and put in place policies to avoid such tragedies in the future.”
Cuomo, who published a book last fall touting his leadership in the fight against the virus, was quick to use the lower death toll in nursing homes in New York City to argue his state is doing better. than others to take care of the people in these establishments.
“There’s no question we’re in this hyper-political environment, so everyone wants to point the finger,” Cuomo told CBS “This Morning” in October. “New York, in fact, we’re 46th out of 50 in terms of the percentage of nursing home deaths – 46 out of 50. So, yes, people have died in nursing homes. … but 46 out of 50 is not a predominantly New York problem.
The attorney general’s report also targeted the controversial New York City policy of March 25 that sought to create more space in hospitals by releasing recovering COVID-19 patients to nursing homes, which the researchers said. reviews, was a determining factor in nursing home outbreaks.
James’ report said these admissions “may have contributed to an increased risk of nursing home residents infection and subsequent death,” noting that at least 4,000 nursing home residents with COVID- 19 died after this advice. But James’ report said the matter would require further study to conclusively prove such a link.
The New York Department of Health released a much-criticized report last summer, saying the March 25 policy, which was rescinded in May, was “not a significant factor” in deaths.
James’ review also found that the lack of infection control in nursing homes puts residents at increased risk of harm, while nursing homes that have lower federal staffing scores have higher COVID-19 death rates.
“As the pandemic and our investigations continue,” she wrote, “it is imperative that we understand why residents of nursing homes in New York City have suffered needlessly at such an alarming rate.”
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