31 March 2021: Calls for Probe of Cuomo COVID Group Home Deaths Scandal

COVID-19 in NY: High infection, death rates in group homes prompt calls for probe

This report indicates the Cuomo administration's COVID group home deaths scandal, a smaller version of its COVID nursing home deaths scandal, is heating up with calls for investigation:

With a COVID-19 death toll in group homes of at least 554 residents and more than 7,000 coronavirus cases, New Yorkers in group homes have been three times more likely to contract and die from the respiratory disease than the public, according to state figures and advocates.

Some of the factors driving the group home crisis included a lack of access to personal protective equipment and COVID-19 testing, as well as governmental mismanagement during the pandemic, according to a recent report by Disability Rights New York and other advocacy groups.

Dutchess County Executive Marcus Molinaro last week cited the report’s findings in calling on state Attorney General Letitia James to launch an investigation of the state’s handling of COVID-19 in group homes.

Unlike NY nursing homes, the directive for placing COVID-infected patients in group homes for the disabled was never rescinded. These homes also ranked behind hospital and nursing homes for the state government's rationing of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for staff and residents, which means they were much worse off than nursing homes. As a result, they faced much worse shortages of these medical supplies throughout the pandemic, which contributed to the spread of COVID within these facilities.