
<p>New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) is facing criticism over accusations that he vastly underreported COVID data affecting nursing home residents to protect his reputation. </p>



<p>According to a lengthy report that New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) published last month, the &#8220;official&#8221; death toll for nursing home residents was off by more than 4,000. </p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>This week, it was confirmed that Cuomo&#8217;s top aides were responsible for the coverup. </strong></h4>



<p>According to witnesses, Cuomo&#8217;s aides removed off-site deaths from a July 2020 report on nursing homes deaths. In other words, they counted deaths occurring inside nursing homes but did not count deaths occurring after patients moved to hospitals. This &#8220;edit&#8221; prompted arguments with health officials who were also working on the report. Many of them resigned, but others played along in fear they would lose their jobs. </p>



<p>Under pressure from James, Governor Cuomo admitted that he withheld the true Covid data due to concerns the Trump Administration would use it to launch a politically-motivated investigation. </p>



<p>According to the <em>New York Times</em>, the coverup began around the time Cuomo started writing a book touting his successes during the pandemic. “The central role played by the governor’s top aides reflected the lengths to which Mr. Cuomo has gone in the middle of a deadly pandemic to control data, brush aside public health expertise, and bolster his position as a national leader in the fight against the coronavirus,” reports the <em>Times. ;</em></p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>To date, more than 47,000 New Yorkers have died from COVID, including 15,000 nursing home residents.</strong> </h4>



<p>New York&#8217;s disproportionately high rate of nursing home deaths has been blamed on a March 2020 directive &#8211; issued by Cuomo &#8211; which forced nursing homes to accept infected patients to create more space in hospitals.</p>



<p><em>The state&#8217;s Department of Health claims the directive was “not a significant factor in nursing home fatalities,” though there is little reason to believe the agency now. ;Governor Cuomo also gave special immunity to nursing home officials, which caused them to make financially-motivated decisions that put the health of staff and residents at risk. ;</em></p>



<p><strong>Sources: </strong></p>



<p><a href="https://www.newsmax.com/us/andrew-cuomo-nursing-homes-covid-deaths/2021/03/04/id/1012584/">Cuomo Team Rewrote Nursing Home Report to Conceal Death Toll ;</a></p>



<p><a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/cuomo-advisers-altered-report-on-covid-19-nursing-home-deaths-11614910855">Andrew Cuomo Aides Rewrote Nursing Home Report to Hide Higher Death Toll </a></p>



<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/04/nyregion/cuomo-nursing-home-deaths.html?action=click&;module=Spotlight&;pgtype=Homepage">Cuomo Advisers Altered Report on COVID-19 Nursing Home Deaths ;</a></p>