New York’s new Governor Kathy Hochul is making good on a promise that “transparency will be the hallmark” of her administration. On her first day in office, her administration revealed that there were almost 12,000 more deaths in New York state than Andrew Cuomo’s administration officially admitted. Hochul told MSNBC’s Morning Joe, “We’re now releasing more data than had been released before publicly, so people know the nursing home deaths and the hospital deaths are consistent with what’s being displayed by the CDC.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) adds 12,000 more COVID deaths to New York’s total — numbers the Cuomo administration failed to report.
“There’s no opportunity for us to mask those numbers, nor would I want to mask those numbers. The public deserves a clear, honest picture.” pic.twitter.com/5uMuthkRJL
— The Recount (@therecount) August 25, 2021
The AP reports, “New York now reports nearly 55,400 people have died of COVID-19 in New York based on death certificate data submitted to the CDC, up from about 43,400 that Gov. Cuomo had reported to the public as of Monday, his last day in office.”
The count used by Cuomo in his news media briefings only included laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 deaths reported through a state system that collects data from hospitals, nursing homes and adult care facilities. That meant the tally excluded people who died at home, hospice, in state prisons or at state-run homes for people living with disabilities. It also excluded people who likely died of COVID-19 but never got a positive test to confirm the diagnosis.
There are calls for Hochul to fire New York Health Commissioner Howard Zucker and any other staff who may have been involved in manipulating the number of COVID deaths, but Hochul says she isn’t replacing anyone right away. She has asked for 45 days to organize her team.
Watch more of what Hochul says about transparency and her plans to turn the Governor’s office around above.