New York State Team
The growing scandal surrounding New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s response to COVID-19 in nursing homes unraveled over the past year, spanning complex public health policies, politically charged debates over pandemic-related decisions and thousands of deaths.
What follows is a USA TODAY Network New York analysis of the saga that culminated recently with revelations that New York’s true nursing home death toll topped 13,000 residents, as opposed to the 8,700 previously reported, and state lawmakers push to curtail Cuomo’s COVID-era powers amid newly launched federal investigations of the matter.
At the time, state and federal officials were scrambling to increase hospital capacity, including deploying a floating Navy hospital to New York City harbor, amid fears hospitals would be overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients.
Fingerlakes1.com
Menu
Have a tip for the newsroom, press release, local event listing or digital content to share? Send it here. Support our mission by visiting patreon.com/fl1 and becoming a monthly subscriber.
The Cuomo administration is refusing to release a full count of coronavirus deaths in New York nursing homes for another two months, until March 22nd.
In a letter to the Empire Center on Wednesday, the Health Department claimed that it needs a further nine weeks and five days “because the records potentially responsive to your request are currently being reviewed for applicable exemptions, legal privileges and responsiveness.”