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Jan 29, 2021 12:56 AM EST
New York drastically undercounted nursing home COVID-19 deaths, according to New York Attorney General Letitia James s investigation results on Thursday.
Significant discrepancies in the COVID-19 death toll
(Photo : Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Nursing Home Residents In New York City Receive COVID-19 Vaccine NEW YORK, NEW YORK - DECEMBER 21: Residents at the New Jewish Home in Manhattan receive the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on December 21, 2020 in New York City. Pharmacists from Walgreens administered the vaccine to elderly residents at the upper Manhattan facility. Across the country, residents of nursing homes are beginning to get the vaccine following a week in which thousands of first responders and medical personal received the vaccine.
Cuomo comes clean: NY admits COVID nursing home deaths are 43% percent HIGHER than previously thought at nearly 13,000 - as Republicans demand ALL the information and accuse the governor of outrageous cover up
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo s administration has admitted that the number of deaths in the state s nursing homes is 43% higher than previously announced
State health commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker released figures Thursday that put the death tally at both nursing homes and hospitals at 12,743 as of January 19 - where previously the official count had been 8,914
The higher number resulted from adding in residents who caught COVID in nursing homes and then went to hospitals where they later died
New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker released a statement in response to State Attorney General Letitia James report, saying the state has undercounted the number of COVID-19 nursi.
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New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker defending his office’s counting of the deaths in nursing homes across New York. The detailed report which was announced by Attorney General Letitia James led to a number of lawmakers calling for his resignation.
Read the full statement below:
“The New York State Office of the Attorney General report is clear that there was no undercount of the total death toll from this once-in-a-century pandemic. The OAG affirms that the total number of deaths in hospitals and nursing homes is full and accurate. New York State Department of Health has always publicly reported the number of fatalities within hospitals irrespective of the residence of the patient, and separately reported the number of fatalities within nursing home
NY Health Commissioner Disputes Nursing Home COVID Death Count
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While the report from A.G. Letitia James indicates the state reported perhaps 50% fewer nursing home deaths during the start of the pandemic, Doctor Howard Zucker says the report actually is clear that there was
no undercount since there is a distinction between nursing home residents who died at their congregate care facility and those who died after being transferred to hospital.
That is a point New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Dr. Zucker have insisted on during daily news briefings throughout the course of the pandemic. Early on, reporters pressed the Governor on the issue of nursing home deaths with the administration insisting that there would be a double-count if nursing home residents who died after being transferred to the hospital were counted as nursing home deaths.