Newly installed New York Governor Kathy Hochul acknowledged nearly 12,000 more deaths in the state from COVID-19 than had been publicized by her predecessor, Andrew Cuomo.
In a release posted to its official website late Tuesday, the governor's office reported that 55,395 people had died of COVID-19 in New York based on death certificate data submitted to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), up from the 43,415 that Cuomo reported to the public as of Monday, his final day in office.
Both numbers are posted. An explanation follows the larger number, saying it "includes those who died in any location, including hospitals, nursing homes, adult care facilities, at home, in hospice and other settings."
"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 explained during a televised interview with the U.S. cable news channel MSNBC earlier Wednesday.
Hochul also implemented a mandatory mask policy Monday for all New York schools, public and private.
Hochul was sworn in early Tuesday after Cuomo left office, effective midnight on Monday. He resigned rather than face what was likely to be a drawn-out impeachment process because of sexual harassment allegations.
