NY Attorney General report finds nursing-home COVID-19 deaths undercounted by as much as 50%

Attorney General Letitia James released a report on nursing homes' pandemic response finding that DOH's published nursing-home death data undercounted resident deaths — partly by excluding residents who died after transfer to hospitals — by approximately 50 percent in a 62-facility sample. It also found infection-control lapses, higher fatality rates at low-staffed facilities, and stated that government guidance requiring admission of COVID-19 patients 'may have' increased risk in some facilities and obscured the data needed to assess that risk. The office announced ongoing investigations of more than 20 facilities.