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Did Andrew Cuomo hide 15,000 Covid-19 deaths? NY Gov slammed as Internet says 'should be charged with homicide'

The New York governor even went on to publish a book about his Covid-19 management success with falsified data

It has been reportedly found that New York governor Andrew Cuomo and his aides had underreported more than 9,000 nursing home deaths from Covid-19 in June 2020, thereafter touting the New York government's success in controlling the coronavirus. 

A probe by The New York Times has revealed that not only did Cuomo's office hid thousands of nursing home deaths in the report, he also decided to write a book about his success in Covid-19 management. 

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How did Andrew Cuomo and his top aides hide the death count?

In June 2020, Cuomo's office received a report by the state health officials, showing the number of nursing home deaths at an alarming 9,000. 

Cuomo's senior aides were reluctant to make the data public, lest their competency comes under public scrutiny. So, they decided to rewrite the report, altering the data of nursing home deaths. Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Cuomo allegedly went ahead with false reports simply to propel his position as a national leader in the battle against the virus.

A few weeks ago, before he got embroiled in a series of sexual harassment allegations, Cuomo admitted that his team did not release the actual data of nursing home deaths earlier fearing a politically motivated inquiry by the Trump administration, about New York's handling of the Covid-19 outbreak. However, now it appears that Cuomo's team was set on hiding the data for months before the federal authorities requested for the same.

The actual Health Department report estimated the death toll at nearly 50 percent higher than the toll published by the Cuomo administration. At that time, New York's actual number of nursing home deaths stood at 9,250, which was nearly 3,000 deaths more than the next highest state New Jersey with 6,150 reported deaths. Contrary to other states, New York administration thus excluded the deaths of residents who had been transferred to hospitals and nursing homes.  

The undercounting of deaths in the rewritten report caused a conflict between Cuomo's aides and health officials working on the report. The conflict soon escalated, souring the relationship between Cuomo and his Health Department and prompting an exodus of the state's top public health officials, reports New York Times. Meanwhile, the top officials who helped in rewriting the report included Melissa DeRosa, Linda Lacewell, and Jim Malatras, none of whom, notably, had any expertise on public health.

When NYT approached the New York governor's office for comments, special counsel Beth Garvey responded by stating that “the out-of-facility data was omitted after DOH. could not confirm it had been adequately verified.” She also added that the additional data did not alter the conclusion of the 33-page report. In fact, even with the 'hidden nursing home deaths', the overall number of the COVID-19 death toll in New York stood at 47,000 with 15,000 being nursing home residents.

‘Harvey Weinstein Democrat’

Internet is furious after the release of NYT's new report, unearthing more corruption and manipulation by the New York governor, who was once being hailed for his brilliant Covid-19 management. In the wake of his sexual harassment scandal, one Twitter user dubbed him a 'Harvey Weinstein Democrat'

"@LindaLacewell @melissadderosa are two of the three that CRIMINALLY HID the deaths of 6500 NY nursing home residents. @NYGovCuomo shd be charged w 6,500 criminally negligent homicide & these other 2 w accessory after the fact... or accessory! @FBI @CivilRights," wrote a furious user. "So, aides down-played the deaths, @NYGovCuomo wrote a book about his "good" job, made $ from said book. Isn't that like #Fraud or something? Aren't his aides #Complicit in his fraud? #Resign Cuomo!" - demanded one user.

Another accused him - "Andrew Cuomo covering up nursing home deaths so he could take the ego boost across the US is really quite something, even for him."