The state’s Health Department has revealed more detail surrounding the deaths at nursing homes in New York amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The data was revealed after a lengthy battle between The Empire Center and the Gov. Andrew Cuomo Administration.
“The new disclosures represent a small fraction of what a court ordered the department to release under a Freedom of Information request by the Empire Center,” Bill Hammond wrote for the publication.
A report dated February 4, posted on Saturday, shows a total of 13,163 nursing home residents have died during the pandemic, of which 4,067, or 31 percent, passed away outside the facilities.
Previously, hospital deaths were omitted from reporting.
“The details released Saturday represent a tiny fraction of what the Empire Center requested. The department has now posted facility-level totals for a single day—Feb. 4—whereas the center requested facility-level numbers for each day of the pandemic,” Hammond added in his reporting.
READ IT: Here’s what Empire Center learned in Saturday’s release
But nursing homes weren’t the only places where death counts saw significant increases. Long-term care and assisted living facilities also saw major spikes, as the state government released new data.
“The death toll in New York’s long-term care facilities jumped by another 1,516 this weekend as the Cuomo administration adjusted its reporting on adult-care facilities to include residents who died after being transferred to hospitals,” wrote Hammond in the second report of the weekend. “The newly disclosed deaths represented an almost eight-fold increase for assisted living and other adult-care facilities, which provide non-medical services for their elderly and disabled residents.”
READ IT: Long-term care facilities saw significant spike this weekend, too
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