In the weeks since an investigation by New York Attorney General Letitia James cited the state health department for misrepresenting the number of COVID-19 deaths among nursing home residents, the picture has become bleaker. 

Following a lawsuit filed by the Albany-based think tank, the Empire Center, a judge ordered the state to release more details on how the pandemic struck these facilities. But while the state shared some new data over the weekend, there are still a lot of unknowns.

Bill Hammond, a senior fellow for health policy at the Empire Center, crafted the Freedom of Information Act request that resulted in the organization's lawsuit against Governor Andrew Cuomo's administration. He told WNYC's Sean Carlson the latest release adds some context to how nursing homes and other long-term care facilities were affected by the coronavirus pandemic but doesn't go far enough.

"If the NYPD suddenly decided to report only crimes that happened during the week and then when this was discovered and people said, 'well, can you give us the numbers for the weekend?' And they said, 'well, we're reconciling that data. We'll get back to you in a year.' I don't think anybody would stand for that," Hammond said.

A state health department spokesman says they are still finalizing their response to the Freedom of Information request and that they plan to eventually update their public-facing websites for tracking COVID-19.

Listen to the full conversation in the player.