Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Health Department understated the number of New Yorkers who died in nursing homes during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic by more than 50 percent as the facilities struggled to properly isolate and treat residents amid a state order that they not turn away COVID-19 patients.
The bombshell finding was contained in a new 76-page report released Thursday by state Attorney General Letitia James, which found that mismanagement and long-standing problems in the private care business turned nursing homes into COVID death traps.
“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,” James said in a statement.
