New NY governor adds 12,000 deaths to publicized COVID tally

By MARINA VILLENEUVE
Associated Press

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York’s new governor is acknowledging that the state has had nearly 12,000 more deaths from COVID-19 than former Gov. Andrew Cuomo told the public. Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office says almost 55,400 people have died of the coronavirus in New York based on death certificate data submitted to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s up from about 43,400 that Cuomo reported to the public as of Monday, his last day in office. Cuomo’s spokesperson said the former administration had only been reporting “clearly labeled confirmed COVID deaths” to ensure accuracy, but had been fulfilling its obligation to report “presumed” deaths to the CDC.