NYS health officials undercounted COVID nursing home deaths to boost Cuomo’s ‘narrative’: comptroller

The state Health Department intentionally “misled the public” about the number of nursing home deaths from COVID-19 to help burnish former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s reputation before a sexual harassment scandal forced him to resign in disgrace, according to a blistering comptroller’s audit released Tuesday. Auditors found that DOH officials undercounted the death toll by at least 4,100 residents and at times by more than 50 percent, allowing Cuomo to repeatedly and falsely claim that New York was doing a better job than other states in protecting highly vulnerable seniors, the report says.-- More...