The picture of what happened at nursing homes has significantly changed over the past 10 days. 

Thanks to the Attorney General’s report, and a court order which followed a lawsuit brought by the Empire Center for Public Policy, the state has revealed, for the first time, a full count of nursing home deaths.

"It’s about 60% higher than the one we had before," the Empire Center’s Bill Hammond told Capital Tonight.

The Empire Center for Public Policy waged a six-month Freedom of Information Law battle which ended up in court when the administration stonewalled its request. The information that’s expected to be released Wednesday includes data on deaths at each nursing home facility across the state, during each day of the pandemic.

"What remains to be seen is the detailed data for each day in the past 10 or 11 months. That would enable us to see the rise and fall of the pandemic over time. How it affected each nursing home. When it arrived, when it got bad, when it got better," Hammond explained.

This information is important when analyzing the impact of particular decisions or policies that were issued by the state and federal government.  

"It’ll enable us to really see what worked and what didn’t work," he said.

Hammond is the Senior Fellow for Health Policy at the Empire Center.