Gov. Andrew Cuomo
(AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, Pool)
NEW YORK (AP) More than 9,000 recovering coronavirus patients in New York state were released from hospitals into nursing homes early in the pandemic under a controversial directive that was scrapped amid criticism it accelerated outbreaks, according to new records obtained by The Associated Press.
The new number of 9,056 recovering patients sent to hundreds of nursing homes is more than 40% higher than what the state health department previously released. And it raises new questions as to whether a March 25 directive from Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration helped spread sickness and death among residents, a charge the state disputes.
The new number of 9,056 recovering patients sent to hundreds of New York nursing homes is more than 40% higher than what the state health department previously released
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AP Photo
Pictured is New York State Attorney General Letitia James. New York may have undercounted COVID-19 deaths of nursing home residents by as much as 50%, the stateâs attorney general said in a report released Thursday.
ALBANY (AP) New York’s attorney general has joined calls for the state to loosen a partial immunity from lawsuits and criminal prosecutions it had granted to nursing homes at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic last spring.
In a report issued Thursday, Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, documented how a number of homes failed to follow proper infection-control protocols as the virus raged.
New York Attorney General Letitia James called for New York to eliminate the immunity provisions, particularly as they applied to nursing homes that knowingly.