12K Deaths Added To NY's Coronavirus Total: Hochul

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — One day after Gov. Kathy Hochul was sworn in, promising a change in the culture in Albany and an emphasis on transparency, she said that the number of people who had died of COVID-19 in New York was actually higher by 12,000 than had been reported.

"Transparency starting just today, we're now releasing more data than had been released before publicly, so people know the nursing home deaths and the hospital deaths are consistent with what's being displayed by the CDC," Hochul told MSNBC.

Based on death-certificate information presented to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 55,400 people have died, more than the 43,400 that state health officials had reported, according to the Associated Press.

New York state, New York City, and the CDC have often shown variations in tallies since the pandemic began, due to data collection differences. Critics variously accused the Cuomo administration of under-reporting to hide deaths and of over-reporting to exaggerate the severity of the pandemic.

"As of yesterday, we're using CDC numbers which'll be consistent," Hochul told NPR. "So, there's no opportunity for us to mask those numbers, nor would I want to mask those numbers. The public deserves a clear honest picture of what's happening. Whether it's good or bad, they need to know the truth and that's how we restore confidence, when they know there will always be truthful and very transparent in my approach to government. And not just with respect to nursing homes — every aspect of government."

The state health department's count, used by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in news media briefings, only included laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 deaths reported through a state system that collects data from hospitals, nursing homes and adult care facilities, the AP said.

That tally excluded people who died at home, hospice, in state prisons or at state-run homes for people living with disabilities. It also excluded people who likely died of COVID-19 but never got a positive test to confirm the diagnosis, the AP said.

Controversy over how the Cuomo administration reported the number of deaths in nursing homes has raged for months. Residents who were taken to and died of COVID-19 in hospitals had been counted in the general totals but not been in the nursing home death reports.

Cuomo's critics called it a cover-up. In February, Cuomo spoke out publicly for the first time on the political furor.

When asked if he thought an investigation would "clear the air," Cuomo said. "I don't think there is anything to clear. ... There is nothing to investigate."

According to the CDC, 133,736 nursing residents have died in the United States from COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Pennsylvania has the most nursing home deaths, with 10,128; California is second, with 9,179; Texas is third with 8,885; New York is fourth with 8,618; and Ohio is fifth with 7,740.

SEE ALSO: NY AG: COVID Deaths Worst At Least-Staffed Nursing Homes

Patch Editor Lisa Finn and the Associated Press contributed to this report.