State lawmakers next month will hold two hearings on the effect of the pandemic on residential care facilities in New York as criticism of the state's handling of nursing home deaths has continued. 

The hearings planned for Aug. 3 and Aug. 7 were announced as part of a slate of public hearings on issues ranging from the impact of the pandemic on higher education, elections, veterans and mass transit in the New York City metropolitan area. 

But the hearings, framed as an assessment on how residential care facilities fared during the pandemic, are being scheduled a week after the state Department of Health released a report blaming asymptomatic staff and visitors for the spread of the virus in nursing homes and long-term care facilities. 

The report, released by Gov. Andrew Cuomo's health commissioner Howard Zucker, largely absolved a controversial March 25 guidance that required the facilities to take in coronavirus positive patients from hospitals. 

More than 6,000 nursing home residents have died during the pandemic since March. It's possible the number of people who were living in nursing homes who have died due to the virus is higher, but were discharged to hospitals. 

"If a person goes into the hospital, passes away in the hospital, we call that a hospitalization death as opposed to trying to trace, how long does a person have to be from the nursing home to the hospital," Cuomo said on Monday during a news conference. "Or you have to do it the other way: back it out of the hospital deaths, increase the nursing home and reduce the hospitalization. But you add the two numbers together and it's the number."

For lawmakers, the hearings fulfill a pledge by the leaders of the Assembly and Senate health panels.

“The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted nearly every aspect of our lives, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said.

“This past May, we held two joint hearings and passed dozens of bills to support New Yorkers as we slowly recover from the health and economic impacts caused by COVID-19. These hearings will help build on that progress and guide our actions as we continue taking steps to move New York State forward. I thank my partner in legislative leadership, Speaker Carl Heastie, and my Senate Democratic Majority colleagues for organizing these hearings and taking action on these important issues.”