Cayuga County state reps blast Cuomo after revelation aides altered nursing home report

Mar. 6—There was bipartisan condemnation after two news stories late Thursday revealed that Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration altered a report about COVID-19 in New York nursing homes and removed a higher death toll — a total that wouldn't be publicized for nearly seven months.

The New York Times and Wall Street Journal published new details about efforts to conceal the true number of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes. Both stories indicate that top aides to Cuomo, including Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa and SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras, were involved in changing the state Department of Health's report that was released in July.

The report concluded COVID-19 was brought into nursing homes by staff. It also stated that a March 25 advisory, which told nursing homes they could not deny admission to residents solely on the basis of a COVID diagnosis, was not a driver of cases in the facilities.

While the report has been scrutinized, the Cuomo administration has also faced criticism for its failure to disclose the true number of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes. For months, the state Department of Health published the total number of confirmed and presumed deaths that occurred in nursing homes. Residents who were transferred to hospitals before they died weren't included in the tally.

In February, DeRosa admitted to state lawmakers that they didn't provide that information in August because of a possible federal investigation. But the new reporting shows that the decision to conceal that figure was made earlier in the summer and happened around the same time Cuomo had a book in the works about leadership during the pandemic.

Beth Garvey, special counsel to Cuomo, said Friday that there were public statements made by Cuomo administration officials about the counting of nursing home deaths in the facility where the residents died. She argued that three members of the COVID-19 task force — DeRosa, Malatras and Linda Lacewell — did not change the fatality data, but that it was removed from the report because of "the uncertainty of one data set that had not been verified."

The July report released by the state Department of Health has been updated to include the total number of nursing home residents who died of COVID-19. As of Friday, there have been more than 10,000 nursing home residents who either died in their facility or in a hospital. There are nearly 3,000 presumed virus-related deaths in nursing homes.

Cayuga County-area state legislators slammed the Cuomo administration after the new revelations on Thursday.

State Sen. Pam Helming noted that Cuomo and his staff admitted that they withheld data showing the true number of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes.

"The governor and his team willfully deceived the public — the people they serve and represent," Helming, R-Canandaigua, said. "Now, their actions are rightfully under federal investigation." The U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn and the FBI are reviewing the matter.

State Sen. John Mannion, a Geddes Democrat, supports the investigations into the Cuomo administration's handling of COVID-19 in nursing homes. But he also panned the governor's office for not being truthful with New Yorkers.

"People, I believe more than ever before, do not trust their leaders in government and it is actions like this or revelations like this that absolutely validate those feelings," he said. "We can't have that."

There have been calls for Cuomo and other officials to resign. Helming believes state Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker should resign. Mannion hasn't gone that far yet but does believe that Cuomo should resign if an investigation uncovers any wrongdoing.

State Sen. Peter Oberacker shared the sentiment of many when he said that he was disappointed after reading the new news stories. He recalled what his father told him about doing right — that "you do right even when no one else is looking."

"How does it get any worse than taking one of the most vulnerable segments of our population, how do you get any worse than literally putting them in harm's way?" he said. "They keep showing me it can get worse."

Politics reporter Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding.

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