New York’s new governor says the state’s heath toll was nearly 12,000 higher than reported by former Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Governor Kathy Hochul says the state “deserves a clear honest picture of what’s happening.”
The state delivered an update on the outbreak Tuesday evening, the first since Hochul took over. It raised the coronavirus death toll in New York to nearly 55,400 people, based on data submitted to the Centers for Disease Control by the state.
On Monday, Cuomo reported about 43,400 deaths on his last day in office. The larger number was first reported in July by the Associated Press, which pointed out the discrepancy between the numbers reported by Cuomo and what New York was reporting to the CDC. The Cuomo number excluded people who died at home, in hospice, in prisons or in state-run homes. It also excluded anyone who died of what doctors believed to be COVID, but were not confirmed by a test.
The state website now includes the higher count.