New York Governor Adds 12,000 COVID Deaths to Predecessor Cuomo’s Count

New York State Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul speaks during an opening ceremony on the first day of the Coney Island parks reopening, in Brooklyn, New York, April 9, 2021. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)

New York governor Kathy Hochul’s administration on Wednesday reported close to 12,000 additional coronavirus deaths that were unacknowledged by predecessor Andrew Cuomo.

Around 54,000 people died of COVID-19 in New York since the start of the pandemic through July, according to data the state provided to the federal government. However, in press releases and updates, the state’s Department of Health reported just 43,000 COVID-19 deaths, a discrepancy first reported by the Associated Press in July.

As of Wednesday, the Hochul administration updated the state’s reported death toll to align with data provided to the federal government. New York now reports 55,400 deaths from COVID-19.

“We’re now releasing more data than had been released before publicly, so people know the nursing home deaths and the hospital deaths are consistent with what’s being displayed by the CDC,” Hochul told MSNBC on Wednesday. “There’s a lot of things that weren’t happening and I’m going to make them happen. Transparency will be the hallmark of my administration.”