According to reports, a top aide to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has revealed that the administration withheld data related to deaths at nursing homes due to COVID-19 to avoid investigation.
Many Republicans have claimed that the New York Governor is equally responsible for the data ‘cover-up’.
Seven New York congressmen have demanded the Justice Department to subpoena Governor Andrew Cuomo. They have accused him of covering up COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes.
The events took a dramatic turn after the Democratic Attorney General of New York, Letitia James published a report. In the report, she had accused the Cuomo administration of underestimating the number of deaths
The report has revealed that Governor Cuomo and his staff miserably failed to report the correct number of deaths in nursing homes after his March Executive Order, which required nursing homes to accept COVID-19 patients.
The Department of Justice has already started an investigation of the nursing home deaths in various states.
It is feared that the number of nursing home deaths in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic is far higher than officially reported. The investigations have further revealed that the numbers reported in January are also less than the actual number of deaths.
In the wake of recent developments in New York, Cuomo’s spokesman, Richard Azzopardi, has attacked Stefanik by accusing him of being a part of the agitation and riots that resulted in the Capitol Building siege.
The State Attorney General has claimed that she had audited the results of 62 nursing homes and reported 1,914 COVID-19 deaths, 56% more than the numbers reported by the state itself.
The data suggests that the total number of deaths in New York nursing homes could be more than 13,000. The state’s official count was 8,711 and it did not count patients transported to a hospital before their death.
Melissa DeRosa, secretary to Cuomo has revealed that the data was manipulated and the exact number of the deaths was withheld to bar investigation from the Justice Department.
Following the news, several families of deceased citizens are demanding an investigation and want criminal prosecution of the responsible authorities.
