Gov. Hochul Reveals 12,000 More New York COVID Deaths than were Reported by Cuomo

   

    Gov. Kathy Hochul, who yesterday, in her first day in office, characterized herself as a straight-shooter, revealed that the state had data from US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that showed that 12,000 more New Yorkers had died from COVID than had been publicized by former Gov. Cuomo.

     Using data that was culled from death certificates that were submitted to the CDC, Gov. Hochul pointed out that nearly 55,400 people, and not the 43,400 who were previously reported, have died of COVID-19 in the state.

     “Transparency will be the hallmark of my administration.”

     The large discrepancy between the fatality numbers that were publicized by Gov. Cuomo in his press conferences and the numbers that were reported to the CDC was first reported by the Associated Press in July.

     Cuomo has long been suspected of the “creative accounting” of COVID deaths to reduce his culpability in his March decision to send still-contagious nursing home patients back to their facilities, where they likely unnecessarily infected many others.

    When Cuomo used total COVID death numbers that excluded patients who died after being transferred to hospitals, critics felt Cuomo was trying to minimize and hide the true number of COVID deaths of nursing homes patients: a count he likely increased after sending many back to their facilities while they were still contagious with the virus.

     Cuomo’s count was misleading because while it included the number of New Yorkers who had died from COVID in hospitals, nursing homes, and adult care facilities, he had, perhaps, willfully, excluded the considerable number of New Yorkers who died at their homes, in hospices, in state prisons, at state-run homes for people living with disabilities, or people who likely died of COVID-19, but who had never received positive tests that confirmed their diagnoses.

     “As of yesterday, we’re using CDC numbers, which will be consistent,” Gov. Hochul said. “And so there’s no opportunity for us to mask those numbers, nor do I want to mask those numbers.

     “The public deserves a clear, honest picture of what’s happening. And that’s whether it’s good or bad, they need to know the truth. And that’s how we restore confidence.”