The state’s Department of Health, which was “slow to respond to a federal directive to conduct surveys of nursing homes for infection control problems,” surveyed only 20% of its nursing homes between March 23 and May 30, 2020. Officials understated nursing home deaths attributed to COVID-19 by at least 4,100 and, at times, above 50%, Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli announced Tuesday.
“The pandemic was devastating and deadly for New Yorkers in nursing homes. Our audit findings are troubling and demonstrate missed opportunities to protect nursing home residents,” DiNapoli tweeted.
HEARTBREAK AND HORROR: PARENTS OF SYDNEY ATTACKER SPEAK OUT
The department also stonewalled auditors by imposing “impediments on the audit, including delaying requested data, limiting auditors’ contact with program staff, not addressing auditors’ questions during meetings, and not providing supporting documentation,” the audit, which covered the period from January 2017 to November 2021, accused.
100-DAY COUNTDOWN, PARIS PREPS TO REIGNITE PASSION FOR THE OLYMPIC GAMES
“These are not routine actions by state agencies undergoing an Office of the State Comptroller audit and raise serious concerns about the control environment at DOH,” the report noted. DiNapoli’s findings were unsurprising given Cuomo’s “pure egotism” and “self-enrichment,” Assemblyman Ron Kim said.
WATCH DR. PHIL: WORDS YOU "CAN'T" SAY ANYMORE
“Cuomo suppressed and covered up life-and-death data while pursuing a multi-million dollar book deal. ... His actions were never about protecting our most vulnerable, they were about pure egotism and self-enrichment at the cost of others’ lives,” he expressed. “I want to thank State Comptroller DiNapoli for putting politics aside to complete this report, which acknowledges the pain and suffering of far too many heartbroken families.”
WATCH HUNTER BIDEN’S LAPTOP REPORTER: "CBS LOCKED ME OUT OF THE BUILDING"
Attorney General Letitia James, another frequent Cuomo foil who unexpectedly withdrew last December when directed by a state ethics board to collect the earnings from the former governor’s memoirs, expressed she was “grateful” to the comptroller for “bringing much-needed transparency to this critical issue.”
CHILLING UPDATE: BODIES DISCOVERED AMID SEARCH FOR MISSING WOMEN IN OKLAHOMA
“This audit affirms many of the findings that we uncovered last year about the state’s response to COVID, most notably that DOH and the former governor undercounted the number of deaths in nursing homes by as much as 50%” she said in a statement.
TERROR STRIKES DURING LIVESTREAMED MASS: SHOCKING STABBING INCIDENT SHOCKS CHURCHGOERS
Yet as recently as Monday, Cuomo, who has indicated an intent to reemerge in the political arena, was promoting a new ad celebrating his response to the pandemic. “Talk is cheap. What matters in life is real results. ... In the early, dark days of March 2020, [Cuomo] guided this state and this nation through the COVID crisis,” Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi said in a Monday statement. “While some have attempted to rewrite history, New Yorkers know that Gov. Cuomo fought for and delivered real results for them — and he always will.”
WATCH: BIDEN'S SCRIPTED VIDEO SPARKS BACKLASH AMID IRAN ATTACK FALLOUT
In a voiceover for the ad, titled “The Record,” the former governor declared he “led this nation through the frightening COVID crisis.” “I’ve never stopped fighting for New Yorkers, and I never will,” he concluded.