New York's additional 12,000 COVID-19 deaths were already tallied by the CDC

Newly-minted New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) raised some eyebrows Wednesday when she revealed that 12,000 COVID-19 deaths were being added to the state's official tally in an effort to increase transparency from Albany. However, as The Washington Post's Philip Bump points out, those fatalities were not technically unreported or hidden before Hochul took over for former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), who resigned Tuesday.

The additional deaths were already tallied by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other places that were keeping tabs on the count, Bump writes. The lower tally of 43,000 shown on New York's online COVID-19 dashboard kept by Cuomo was based on data taken only from hospitals and nursing homes after laboratory-conformed positive coronavirus tests; it did not include deaths that occurred in other facilities, private homes, or fatalities that weren't precededed by a positive test. Essentially, the Cuomo administration failed to publicize these deaths online, but New York still reported the other 12,000 to the CDC. Under Hochul, the more accurate figure is now publicly displayed on New York's website. Read Bump's full explainer about the discrepancy at The Washington Post.

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