New York Assembly investigative findings — released publicly Monday regarding former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s conduct in office — confirmed a statewide underreporting of nursing home resident deaths tied to COVID-19.
COVID-19-related nursing home deaths that occurred “for a period of approximately two weeks in April and/or May 2020,” reported after 5 p.m. each day, were not included in totals for that day, the investigation found.
The New York State Department of Health (DOH) also misrepresented the number of COVID-related deaths in a later report published July 6, 2020, according to the investigation, choosing to report resident deaths that occurred in-facility only, leaving out residents that were transferred outside of the facility where they later died of COVID.
That was a difference of 6,500 versus 10,000 reported deaths, the investigation found.
The 63-page report published by the state assembly covers a wide array of misconduct allegations against Cuomo.
Underreporting during those first couple months was the “subject of multiple discussions” between members of the executive chamber, members of the NYS COVID-19 Task Force, and others, the report said.
“While it appears that the underreporting was the result of difficulty in utilizing a new data collection process amidst a pandemic, there was some reluctance to admit error when it was discovered and to correct the published numbers immediately,” the report said of initial reporting issues. “For example, when an Executive Chamber employee alerted a Task Force member to the issue, the Task Force member responded by saying something to the effect of, ‘Do you want me to admit that we have been reporting deaths incorrectly?’”
Following such discussions, health department employees were tasked with a re-review of the nursing home data, resulting in a higher number of fatalities than was previously reported, the report noted, and revised statistics on or around May 6; updates were published on the DOH website.
The July 6 report, titled “Factors Associated with Nursing Home Infections and Fatalities in New York State During the COVID-19 Global Health Crisis,” was accurate in its disclosures, the investigation noted, but it was not “fully transparent” when it came to the total number of nursing home residents who died as a result of the virus, referring to in-facility and out-facility death discrepancies.
Following a call and emails in late June involving executive chamber members and the state’s task force, the initial 10,000 number of COVID deaths was changed to 6,500 in subsequent drafts of the report.
“A Task Force member expressed the understanding that the approximately 10,000 number was not public and should not be provided,” the investigation said. “Another Task Force member replied that the approximately 10,000 number should not be a ‘surprise, shock, or anything to folks,’ as it came from earlier drafts of the DOH Report and data provided by consultants who had been engaged to assist DOH with collecting and interpreting data.”
The executive chamber official that made the decision to only report in-facility nursing home deaths also acted as the “key point person” for Cuomo’s book deal being discussed during the same time period, the investigation pointed out — a book about Cuomo’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis.
“The evidence obtained in our investigation indicates that the former Governor and his senior staff were not fully transparent with the public regarding the number of COVID-19 deaths among nursing home residents,” this section of the report concluded. “The Committee is cooperating with law enforcement with respect to these issues.”
