DOH Reveals 5,778 Previously Uncounted Patients who Died of COVID in Long-Term Care Facilities

     On Feb. 3, the New York Supreme Court ordered the New York State Department of Health (DOH) to reveal, within five days, the full count of coronavirus deaths among residents of long-term care facilities, which resulted in the revelation of 5,778 more deaths than were previously reported.

    For instance, in the last few days, the DOH added 4,080 deaths to the number of New Yorkers who died of COVID in nursing homes and 177 deaths to the total number of patients who passed away in nursing home facilities.

   In addition, although the DOH previously reported zero COVID deaths that took place in adult care facilities, the DOH just updated that number to 1,516 patients who died of COVID.

    Gov. Cuomo has long been criticized for his March order in which he sent hospitalized nursing home patients with COVID back to the nursing homes to make room for other patients, however, the governor has been especially under fire since state Attorney General Letitia James revealed her study on Jan. 28, which revealed that the DOH had underreported COVID deaths among nursing home residents by 50%. 

    The DOH was able to underreport the total number of nursing home deaths after it omitted the number of people who lived in nursing homes, but who died of COVID in hospitals and not in their facilities.

   After Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the DOH had delayed three times releasing the true numbers of those who died of COVID in long term care in the state, last week, New York State Supreme Court Justice Kimberly A. O’Connor ruled for the Empire Center for Public Policy, which had brought a case against the governor and the DOH on behalf of the thousands of families who lost loved ones to COVID-19 in state-regulated nursing homes.

   The combined updates from both nursing homes and other elderly care facilities brings the death toll for long-term facilities in New York to nearly 15,000.