New York prosecutor says state undercounted nursing home COVID deaths by up to 50%

New York prosecutor says state undercounted nursing home COVID deaths by up to 50% New York state's health department may have undercounted the COVID-19 death toll in state nursing home residents by as much as 50%, according to a report released by the state attorney general's office on Thursday. Reuters Staff U.S.

(Reuters) - New York state’s health department may have undercounted the COVID-19 death toll in state nursing home residents by as much as 50%, according to a report released by the state attorney general’s office on Thursday.

The report, issued while the state prosecutor’s office continues to investigate nursing homes’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic, indicated that some facilities underreported deaths to the state health department. It also found that the health department did not count the deaths of nursing home residents who were transferred to and died in hospitals in some cases.

“As the pandemic and our investigations continue, it is imperative that we understand why the residents of nursing homes in New York unnecessarily suffered at such an alarming rate,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement.

The report sheds light on several errors in the state’s COVID-19 response in nursing homes, for which Governor Andrew Cuomo has been criticized since the spring, when New York was the epicenter of the U.S. COVID epidemic.

Cuomo’s administration came under fire in particular for guidance it issued on March 25, saying nursing homes could not deny entry to COVID or suspected-COVID patients. ...