But Cuomo was dealt a blow when the New York state attorney general, Letitia James, reported Thursday morning that Cuomo’s administration had undercounted coronavirus-related deaths of state nursing home residents by the thousands. Just hours later, James was proved correct, as Health Department officials made public new data that added more than 3,800 deaths to their tally, representing nursing home residents who had died in hospitals and had not previously been counted by the state as nursing home deaths. James’ report had suggested that the state’s previous tally could be off by as much as 50%. At the same time, James’ assertion of an undercount of deaths gave credence to theories that the state may have intentionally played down the number of those deaths to avoid blame. “But not surprising.”James’ report seemed certain to inspire more questions about the handling, oversight and performance of the state’s nursing homes in the early stages of the pandemic.

Source: bd News24 January 29, 2021 08:03 UTC