Cuomo administration underreported COVID nursing home deaths by thousands, audit says
ALBANY, N.Y. -- A new audit says former Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration undercounted the number of COVID deaths of New York nursing home residents by thousands.
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says the public was misled by those at the highest level of government.
His auditors found the state Health Department understated the number of deaths by at least 4,100, and at times, the numbers were underreported by as much as 50%.
The audit said the Health Department undercounted the deaths, as Cuomo, his executive staff and a task force took control of the information provided to the public.
A spokesperson for the former governor told CBS2 in a statement, "As the number of out of facility deaths were reported last January this is not news, however what is peculiar is the Comptroller's release of this audit now — but no one has ever accused him of being above politics."
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