ASSOCIATED PRESS: New York’s true nursing home death toll cloaked in secrecy
State health department surveys show 21,000 nursing home beds are lying empty this year, 13,000 more than expected (double the official state nursing home death tally)…it suggests that many others aren’t there anymore because they died.
“New York’s coronavirus death toll in nursing homes, already among the highest in the nation, could actually be a significant undercount. Unlike every other state with major outbreaks, New York only counts residents who died on nursing home property and not those who were transported to hospitals and died there.”
“That statistic that could add thousands to the state’s official care home death toll of just over 6,600. But so far the administration of Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo has refused to divulge the number, leading to speculation the state is manipulating the figures to make it appear it is doing a better than other states and to make a tragic situation less dire.”
