During the initial stages of the COVID-19 outbreak in the spring of 2019, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a state mandate that nursing homes must readmit residents sent to hospitals with the coronavirus and accept new patients deemed “medically stable.”
The order was devastating. It led to a significant number of infections, hospitalizations, and deaths among the state’s elderly.
However, the media pressed forward with the narrative that Cuomo’s pandemic policy was a great model. The press also publicized his efforts to blame then-President Donald Trump for the consequences of his mandate and received an International Emmy for his starring role in the COVID-theater production.
A devastating report by the New York State attorney general indicates that the Cuomo administration undercounted coronavirus-related deaths at nursing homes by as much as 50 percent. Previously, the count came in at 8,500.
In the 76-page report released by the attorney general, Letitia James, a survey of nursing homes found consistent discrepancies between deaths reported to the attorney general’s investigators and those officially released by the Health Department.In one instance, an unnamed facility reported 11 confirmed and presumed deaths to the Health Department as happening on site through early August. The attorney general’s survey of that same facility, however, found 40 deaths, including 27 at the home and 13 in hospitals.“Preliminary data obtained by O.A.G. suggests that many nursing home residents died from Covid-19 in hospitals after being transferred from their nursing homes, which is not reflected in D.O.H.’s published total nursing home death data,” a summary of the report’s findings reads.
James’ office cited the admission mandate as a potential cause of excess deaths.
“Government guidance requiring the admission of COVID-19 patients into nursing homes may have put residents at increased risk of harm in some facilities and may have obscured the data available to assess that risk,” the report summary said.The AP reported in August that the state’s nursing home death counts, already among the highest in the nation, might have been substantially undercounted.About 70 percent of the nearly 35,000 COVID deaths in New York were people aged 70 and older, according to state data as of Jan. 28.
The report also included findings of an investigation into allegations of patient neglect and other “concerning conduct” that jeopardized both patients and employees and asserted that some facilities failed to comply with health protocols to stop the virus’s spread.
Nursing homes that had low U.S. Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) Staffing ratings were found to have higher COVID-19 fatality rates.In addition, lack of sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE) equipment for staff, as well as low availability of testing, could have also increased the patients’ risk of contracting the virus, the report said.About 70 percent of the nearly 35,000 COVID deaths in New York were people aged 70 and older, according to state data as of Jan. 28.Investigations into more than 20 nursing homes whose reported conduct during the first wave of the pandemic presented particular concern are still ongoing, James added.
The fascinating aspect about this news is that James is hardly a conservative trouble-shooter: She plans to target Trump for various investigations and sued petroleum firms, saying they misled investors about the threat of climate change. So her progressive bona fides are clear.
Now, Cuomo (liberal hero of the COVID-19 war) will have to address the consequences of his mandate just as vaccines are rolling out and the need for economy-crushing lockdowns subsides.
When the written history of the pandemic response comes out it will have to consider Cuomo a bigger grandma killer than initially thought.
For those of you interested, the NY Attorney General report is at this link.
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