Why did they die?

Of the 32,219 New Yorkers who’ve died from coronavirus, 6,432 were in nursing homes. It is vital to understand whether or not those deaths could have been prevented, and how Albany policy decisions may have contributed to so great a loss of life.

A new state Health Department report investigating nursing home deaths provides precious little illumination, instead largely choosing to defend a state mandate that sent recovering COVID-19 patients back to nursing homes, where they may have spread the virus.

When Gov. Cuomo’s Health Department issued the rule March 25, he was taking a calculated risk, in good faith. The order was partly intended to free up hospital beds when some models predicted hospitals would soon be overrun.

The bed shortage was not ultimately as dire as predicted. In hindsight, the greater risk may have been in sending COVID-19 infected patients back to where they could infect others.

Instead of conceding that possibility, the report wrongly shifts blame for the decision to the Centers for Disease Control.

The state does credibly argue that asymptomatic nursing home employees were likely the primary driver of nursing home deaths. Antibody testing suggests as many as one in four nursing home workers here has had the virus.

But that’s not the whole story. We need it to know what to do should a second virus wave arrive.

“Long-term care facilities should take proactive steps to protect the health of residents and preserve the health care workforce by identifying and excluding potentially infected staff members”