Report finds Cuomo nursing home order linked to additional 1,000 deaths

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s March 25 guidance directing nursing homes to accept coronavirus-positive residents was linked to over 1,000 additional deaths, according to the Empire Center for Public Policy, a government watchdog group.

“Statewide, the findings imply that COVID-positive new admissions between late March and early May, which numbered 6,327, were associated with several hundred and possibly more than 1,000 additional resident deaths,” the report read.

The March 25 advisory has embroiled Cuomo in a scandal over reports that his administration purposely withheld the true death toll due to COVID-19 in New York nursing homes. Cuomo amended the guidance on May 10, prohibiting hospitals from discharging patients to nursing homes unless they have tested negative for COVID-19.