New York Comptroller Looks to Review State’s Covid Response

On Thursday, a Times Union op-ed from New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli was published, and it called into question the Olson Group’s shortcomings regarding their COVID-19 report and requested an independent commission to review the state’s pandemic response.

The op-ed brings into question examples relating to nursing home deaths, claiming they were undercounted.The state Department of Health’s data, which the Olson Group allegedly had access to, tallied 11,350 deaths, but only 5,974 were included in the independent report. DiNapoli also questions the legitimacy of testimonial evidence, as as the Olson Group leaned on personal opinions from anonymous sources instead of readily available authoritative data.

“The Olson report is a missed opportunity to provide answers or restore confidence in New York’s emergency planning,” DiNapoli wrote. “It is replete with large and small errors and omissions — most egregiously the undercounting of those who died in nursing homes. Without a thorough and accurate assessment of New York’s pandemic response, based on reliable research and thoughtful analysis, we will not learn from our mistakes and successes.”

The Olson Group’s independent report was expected to be an objective assessment of New York’s response to the pandemic, but DiNapoli believes the report did not provide the rigorous examination that was promised. He also says that the failure of the report means the state does not have a roadmap for future improvements.