Month: January 2021

A winter storm watch is posted from Washington, D.C., to New York City.

The western storm finally left the West and is moving into the Midwest Saturday and into the Northeast Sunday night into Monday.

More than 15 inches of snow fell in parts of coastal California and up to 107 inches of snow fell in the Sierra Nevada mountains. That’s 9 feet of snow, in just a few days.

Heavy rain caused mudslides that buried homes, closed roads and prompted evacuations. In the mountains, several interstates had to be shut down for a time due to the heavy snow.

As the storm moves east, 21 states — from the Dakotas to North Carolina — are on alert for heavy snow and a lingering Arctic blast.

A winter storm warning has been issued for Chicago, where heavy snow is expected from Saturday afternoon into Sunday.

A winter storm watch has been issued for Washington, D.C., for Sunday and Philadelphia and New York City for Monday.

Chicago will see 5 to 9 inches of snow due to the storm, while Washington, D.C., will see 4 to 8, Philadelphia will see 5 to 11. New York City will see 6 to 10 inches. These totals may change over the weekend.

In another promising development for vaccine science, Johnson & Johnson says its vaccine — a single shot tested against a complex barrage of newly emerged COVID-19 variants — is 66% effective at preventing symptomatic disease and 85% effective against preventing severe illness.

A team of scientists at the company were “elated” and “joyful” when they saw the results, Dr. Mathai Mammen, M.D., Ph.D., the global head of Janssen Research & Development, told ABC News.

“We’re a single shot … And now we’ve produced data that say that our vaccine is highly effective, 85% effective against severe COVID, 100% effective against hospitalization or death,” Mammen said.

“We’ve had the objective of producing a vaccine for the world, that is easily used, is easily distributed and it works against preventing the form of COVID-19 that people care about,” said Mammen, meaning an illness that can make you severely sick at home and lead to hospitalization or death.

In a press release, Johnson & Johnson said the vaccine is also safe to take. Volunteers experienced mild reactions after the shot, with less than 10% experiencing fever.

The full data package will be made publicly available and will be evaluated by the FDA’s advisory committee sometime in mid- to late February.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has said it will consider a vaccine that’s more than 50% effective, and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine exceeds this threshold. An emergency use authorization could be given and people could start receiving shots before the end of February.

With its single-shot administration and more convenient transportation and storage requirements, Mammen calls it a “workhorse vaccine.”

“We’re delighted to see that this vaccine has good efficacy against mild disease [and] outstanding efficacy against severe disease … [in] all geographic regions studied,” said Dr. Dan Barouch of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, who collaborated with Johnson & Johnson in the development of the vaccine.

Although existing FDA-authorized vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna boast roughly 95% efficacy rates against symptomatic disease, and near-perfect protection against severe illness, they also have drawbacks, as they both must be administered in two shots and have more complex storage requirements.

Also, they were tested back in the summertime, prior to the emergence of the recently discovered COVID-19 variants.

“They did run the vaccine at a period that was simpler,” said Mammen. “These variants are particularly tricky as they can be more virulent [and] a little bit harder to protect from.”

The Johnson & Johnson trial, launched in September, was conducted in the United States, South Africa and Latin America. Although unforeseen at the time, this massive clinical experiment comprised of more than 44,000 volunteers took place in countries were new COVID-19 variants would emerge shortly thereafter, often taking over the prior versions of the virus.

South Africa in particular is home to a variant that seems not only more transmissible, but is also seemingly able to blunt the effect of other existing vaccines. Latin America, meanwhile, is home to a more transmissible Brazilian variant that shares some of the same mutations.

“It’s a much more complex pandemic now than it was months ago,” Barouch said.

Broken down by region, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, in the trial, was 72% effective in the U.S., 66% in Latin America and 57% in South Africa.

Mamment said the company is “very fortunate” to have chosen South Africa as one of the homes for its trial, because it gave them the opportunity to show that their vaccine works even against a variant that may one day become dominant.

So now, Mamment said, “I’m thinking not so much about the South African strain, but rather about other mutations that might pop up.”

He’s particularly encouraged by the fact that all volunteers saw a significant benefit in taking a vaccine that eliminates the possibility of being hospitalized with or dying of COVID-19.

In the trial, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine proved to be roughly 66% effective at stopping a person from developing COVID-19 with symptoms. But it was 85% effective at preventing severe illness that could send a person to the hospital.

“So, this is probably the single most exciting result in our entire clinical study that we have 85% protection against severe COVID, irrespective of where in the world you’re talking about and what kind of variants you’re talking about,” Mamment said.

“From the standpoint of making a vaccine for this pandemic, your goal is keeping people out of the hospital and out of the morgue,” said Dr. Paul Offit, a member of the FDA’s advisory committee, director of the Vaccine Education Center and professor of pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

“Obviously it’s no fun having mild illness,” Offit said. “But the real question is: How effective was it at keeping people out of the hospital?”

The development comes as the world has been waiting for a more convenient, single-dose vaccine against the coronavirus — and preferably one that doesn’t need to be frozen for shipping and long-term storage, like Pfizer’s and Moderna’s do.

Mamment said his company’s vaccine checks those boxes.

“We know it’s a magnificent advantage to have a single shot,” he said. “I believe everybody benefits from this vaccine.”

They are now planning studies in children and pregnant women to ensure the vaccine is also safe and effective for those groups.

If authorized, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine would help ease a strained vaccine supply.

The company said they can deliver 100 million doses to the U.S. by June, if the FDA gives the green light.

In another promising development for vaccine science, Johnson & Johnson says its vaccine — a single shot tested against a complex barrage of newly emerged COVID-19 variants — is 66% effective at preventing symptomatic disease and 85% effective against preventing severe illness.

A team of scientists at the company were “elated” and “joyful” when they saw the results, Dr. Mathai Mammen, M.D., Ph.D., the global head of Janssen Research & Development, told ABC News.

“We’re a single shot … And now we’ve produced data that say that our vaccine is highly effective, 85% effective against severe COVID, 100% effective against hospitalization or death,” Mammen said.

“We’ve had the objective of producing a vaccine for the world, that is easily used, is easily distributed and it works against preventing the form of COVID-19 that people care about,” said Mammen, meaning an illness that can make you severely sick at home and lead to hospitalization or death.

In a press release, Johnson & Johnson said the vaccine is also safe to take. Volunteers experienced mild reactions after the shot, with less than 10% experiencing fever.

The full data package will be made publicly available and will be evaluated by the FDA’s advisory committee sometime in mid- to late February.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has said it will consider a vaccine that’s more than 50% effective, and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine exceeds this threshold. An emergency use authorization could be given and people could start receiving shots before the end of February.

With its single-shot administration and more convenient transportation and storage requirements, Mammen calls it a “workhorse vaccine.”

“We’re delighted to see that this vaccine has good efficacy against mild disease [and] outstanding efficacy against severe disease … [in] all geographic regions studied,” said Dr. Dan Barouch of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, who collaborated with Johnson & Johnson in the development of the vaccine.

Although existing FDA-authorized vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna boast roughly 95% efficacy rates against symptomatic disease, and near-perfect protection against severe illness, they also have drawbacks, as they both must be administered in two shots and have more complex storage requirements.

Also, they were tested back in the summertime, prior to the emergence of the recently discovered COVID-19 variants.

“They did run the vaccine at a period that was simpler,” said Mammen. “These variants are particularly tricky as they can be more virulent [and] a little bit harder to protect from.”

The Johnson & Johnson trial, launched in September, was conducted in the United States, South Africa and Latin America. Although unforeseen at the time, this massive clinical experiment comprised of more than 44,000 volunteers took place in countries were new COVID-19 variants would emerge shortly thereafter, often taking over the prior versions of the virus.

South Africa in particular is home to a variant that seems not only more transmissible, but is also seemingly able to blunt the effect of other existing vaccines. Latin America, meanwhile, is home to a more transmissible Brazilian variant that shares some of the same mutations.

“It’s a much more complex pandemic now than it was months ago,” Barouch said.

Broken down by region, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, in the trial, was 72% effective in the U.S., 66% in Latin America and 57% in South Africa.

Mamment said the company is “very fortunate” to have chosen South Africa as one of the homes for its trial, because it gave them the opportunity to show that their vaccine works even against a variant that may one day become dominant.

So now, Mamment said, “I’m thinking not so much about the South African strain, but rather about other mutations that might pop up.”

He’s particularly encouraged by the fact that all volunteers saw a significant benefit in taking a vaccine that eliminates the possibility of being hospitalized with or dying of COVID-19.

In the trial, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine proved to be roughly 66% effective at stopping a person from developing COVID-19 with symptoms. But it was 85% effective at preventing severe illness that could send a person to the hospital.

“So, this is probably the single most exciting result in our entire clinical study that we have 85% protection against severe COVID, irrespective of where in the world you’re talking about and what kind of variants you’re talking about,” Mamment said.

“From the standpoint of making a vaccine for this pandemic, your goal is keeping people out of the hospital and out of the morgue,” said Dr. Paul Offit, a member of the FDA’s advisory committee, director of the Vaccine Education Center and professor of pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

“Obviously it’s no fun having mild illness,” Offit said. “But the real question is: How effective was it at keeping people out of the hospital?”

The development comes as the world has been waiting for a more convenient, single-dose vaccine against the coronavirus — and preferably one that doesn’t need to be frozen for shipping and long-term storage, like Pfizer’s and Moderna’s do.

Mamment said his company’s vaccine checks those boxes.

“We know it’s a magnificent advantage to have a single shot,” he said. “I believe everybody benefits from this vaccine.”

They are now planning studies in children and pregnant women to ensure the vaccine is also safe and effective for those groups.

If authorized, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine would help ease a strained vaccine supply.

The company said they can deliver 100 million doses to the U.S. by June, if the FDA gives the green light.

The hard-hit industry has been restricted to outdoor dining and takeout.

New York City restaurants can once again serve customers indoors starting Feb. 14.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced in a press conference on Friday that restaurants in New York City “can reopen indoor dining at 25% on Valentine’s Day.”

“25% is better than zero,” he said. “If the numbers continue to get better, then we will continue to increase that.”

He said that “the restaurants want a period of time” to prepare for reopening in order to hire back staff, plan menus, get orders in, etc.

“You could make a reservation now or plan dinner — you propose on Valentine’s Day — you have the wedding ceremony up to 150 people,” he said as he continued to unveil his plans for reopening.

The good news came on the 335th day of the ongoing pandemic as positive cases hit the lowest point since Dec. 11

Earlier this week Andrew Rigie, executive director of the NYC Hospitality Alliance, said he was looking forward to hearing Cuomo’s plan to reopen indoor dining.

“It’s paramount these decisions are based on data. And, because New York City has lower infection and hospitalization rates than nearly all counties in the rest of the state where indoor dining is open at 50% occupancy, our city’s restaurants must be treated equitably and reopened safely,” Rigie explained. “Highly regulated, limited occupancy indoor dining has been a minor factor for virus transmission and full shutdowns have exacerbated the current economic crisis, which has permanently shuttered thousands of restaurants and bars and put over 140,000 people out of work in our city.”

Timeline of NYC Dining During the Pandemic

– Mid-March 2020: Restaurants start to shut their doors as cases climb.
– March 12, 2020: Restaurants are required to reduce capacity by 50%.
– March 16, 2020: Gov. Cuomo shuts down indoor dining, limiting restaurants to delivery and takeout.
– March 17, 2020: Restaurants are allowed to sell alcohol for delivery and takeout.
– May 28, 2020: New York’s city council introduces a bill to expand outdoor dining.

– June 4, 2020: Mayor Bill de Blasio announces full plans for outdoor dining.
– June 22, 2020: Outdoor dining officially begins at restaurants around the city.
– July 1, 2020: Indoor dining is postponed until further notice.
– July 16, 2020: Three-strike policy implemented for bars and restaurants with violations resulting in loss of an establishment’s liquor license.
– July 27, 2020: New York City council member pushes to make outdoor dining, restaurant relief measures permanent.
– Aug. 28, 2020: New York City restaurants file $2 billion lawsuit amid growing calls for indoor dining plans.
– Sept. 9, 2020: Gov. Cuomo announces plan for restaurants to resume indoor dining at 25% capacity.
– Sept. 25, 2020: Mayor de Blasio makes outdoor dining permanent.
– Oct. 16, 2020: Restaurants are allowed to add a 10% dining surcharge amid the pandemic.
– Nov. 13, 2020: A 10 p.m. curfew is set for all bars and restaurants in New York state.
– Dec. 11, 2020: Gov. Cuomo reinstates an indoor dining ban with no timeframe for return.
– Jan. 29, 2020: Indoor dining is set to resume Feb. 14 at 25% capacity with COVID-19 safety measures.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Thursday that she is concerned about threats against members of Congress and suggested that the “enemy is within the House of Representatives.”

Pelosi said that Congress will likely have to pass a bill that provides more money that would go toward member safety in light of recent threats in the days since the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.

“We will probably need a supplemental for more security for members when the enemy is within the House of Representatives – a threat that members are concerned about in addition to what is happening outside,” Pelosi said.

When asked to expand on what she meant by “the enemy is within” she responded: “We have members of Congress who want to bring guns on the floor and have threatened violence on other members of Congress.”

ABC News reached out to Pelosi’s office for further clarification about which members she was referring to — but did not immediately back.

Her comments come after Republicans have tried, in recent days, to bring their guns on the House floor, despite the addition of a metal detector at the chamber door. Some Republicans are bypassing the metal detector altogether.

CNN’s KFile, in a report on her online activity, said GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., allegedly “liked” a comment on her Facebook page in 2019 that threatened Pelosi life and other Democrats.

ABC News cannot confirm the “likes” because the posts have been deleted.

Greene was also recently assigned to the House Education and Labor Committee despite her support of conspiracy theories claiming mass school shootings at Sandy Hook and Parkland were staged.

Pelosi, D-Calif., ripped into Republican leadership for giving Greene that committee assignment.

“What I’m concerned about is the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives who are willing to overlook, ignore those statements, assigning her to the Education Committee when she has mocked the killing of little children at Sandy Hook Elementary School, when she mocked the killing of teenagers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas,” Pelosi said.

“What could they be thinking? Or is thinking too generous of a word for what they might be doing,” she added. “It is absolutely appalling.”

House Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has also said he will have a “conversation” with Greene over her support for those threatening social media posts. It’s unclear if the two have spoken yet.

Asked for comment Thursday, Greene said in a statement provided by her office, “Democrats and their spokesmen in the Fake News Media will stop at nothing to defeat conservative Republicans. They are coming after me because I’m a threat to their goal of Socialism. They are coming after me because they know I represent the people, not the politicians.

“They are coming after me because, like President Trump, I will always defend conservative values,” she continued. “They want to take me out because I represent the people. And they absolutely hate it.”

She did not respond to a question about a report she agreed with a social media post saying the Sandy Hook school shooting was staged.

In an earlier statement posted to Twitter, Greene did not deny that she liked posts and replied to comments but claimed that many people have run her Facebook page.

Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., on Wednesday announced plans to introduce a resolution calling for Greene’s expulsion from Congress over her social media posts.

“As if it weren’t enough to amplify conspiracy theories that the September 11 attacks were an inside job and the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School was staged, a string of recent media reports has now confirmed that Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene had previously supported social media posts calling for political violence against the Speaker of the House, members of Congress, and former President Barack Obama,” Gomez said in a statement Wednesday.

“Such advocacy for extremism and sedition not only demands her immediate expulsion from Congress, but it also merits strong and clear condemnation from all of her Republican colleagues, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Her very presence in office represents a direct threat against the elected officials and staff who serve our government, and it is with their safety in mind, as well as the security of institutions and public servants across our country, that I call on my House colleagues to support my resolution to immediately remove Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene from this legislative body,” he said.

It would take two-thirds of the House voting to expel Greene for her to be removed from the chamber. That would require roughly 70 Republicans to vote with all Democrats on the measure from Gomez. It is unlikely to happen.

Earlier Thursday, the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, Democratic Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., condemned Republican leadership over Greene’s assignment to his committee.

He makes reference to a March 2019 video in which Greene can be seen following David Hogg, a survivor of the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, down a sidewalk outside the Capitol in Washington, D.C., repeatedly asking him why he is advocating for gun control laws. Greene says to Hogg: “Why are you supporting red flag gun laws that attack our Second Amendment rights?

“House Republicans have appointed someone to this Committee who claimed that the killing of 20 children and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School was a hoax. House Republicans have appointed someone to this Committee who claimed that the killing of 14 students and three teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School was staged,” Scott said. “House Republicans have appointed someone to this Committee who chased and berated a 17-year-old survivor of a mass school shooting, and then celebrated this behavior by posting it on social media. House Republicans have appointed someone to this Committee who has publicly endorsed violence against elected officials,” Scott said in a statement, referring to Greene.

“House Republicans made this appointment and Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy must explain how someone with this background represents the Republican party on education issues. He is sending a clear message to students, parents, and educators about the views of the Republican Party,” he said.

ABC News’ Benjamin Siegel contributed to this report.

Eleven Fort Bliss soldiers are injured after having ingested an “unknown substance” during a training exercise, according to a press release from Fort Bliss’ 1st Armored Division shared Thursday.

Two of those soldiers are currently in critical condition.

Officials at themilitary base in Texas are investigating the incident, the release states, but few details are known at this time.

“All members involved in the incident are under observation of medical professionals,” the press release says. “Fort Bliss officials will provide updates as more information becomes available.”

The 1st Armored Division — also known as “Old Ironsides”– is a renowned U.S. Army armored division consisting of approximately 17,000 highly-trained soldiers, according to the Army’s website.

Executives said the requirement would pose logistical challenges.

U.S. airlines are pushing back against the possibility of COVID-19 testing before domestic flights after the Biden administration said it is “actively looking” at making it a requirement.

“It would have us testing Americans on airplanes that we all know are safe to be on,” American Airlines CEO Doug Parker said during the carrier’s Q4 earnings call.

Executives from Southwest and JetBlue echoed that sentiment, explaining that a domestic testing requirement would be too costly and pose logistical challenges. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials said Wednesday that the conversation is “ongoing” and that the agency is “actively looking at it.”

The domestic testing would expand upon the administration’s mandatory requirement for U.S.-bound travelers, which went into effect Tuesday. All travelers flying into the U.S. must now provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test, taken no more than three days before their flight, or they will be denied boarding.

In Thursday’s earnings call, American Airlines said this new requirement has hurt demand for its short-haul international flying, mainly to Mexico and other Caribbean beach destinations.

American Airlines CEO Doug Parker said his airline would work with the government should they mandate domestic testing, but expressed concerns such a requirement could disrupt already volatile demand.

“We certainly want to make sure it is something that wouldn’t restrict demand,” Parker said. “No one has talked to us officially about doing that — and if they do we will do our best to make sure we stress how safe it is to fly.”

Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly said in an investor call that the focus should be on the continued rollout of the vaccine and asked, “why pick on air travel?”

“We don’t have adequate testing capacity for the country in the first place,” Kelly said. “It’s just unrealistic to expect that we can efficiently and effectively do testing on a larger scale.”

JetBlue President Joanna Geraghty echoed this point in an earnings call Thursday saying, “frankly, we’re concerned that it would actually reduce the ability to some people who legitimately need to get test for health reasons.”

This also comes as public health officials are warning Americans against travel. Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden and the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, said “It is not a good idea to travel, period.”

“If you absolutely have to travel and it’s essential, then obviously, one would have to do that. But we don’t want people to think because they got vaccinated that other public health recommendations just don’t apply,” Fauci said during a CNN town hall.

ABC News’ Mina Kaji and Sam Sweeney contributed to this report.

More of the missing schoolgirls are said to be returning home.

LONDON and MAIDUGURI — Nearly seven years after Boko Haram militants snatched them from their dormitory beds in the northeast Nigerian town of Chibok, more of the missing schoolgirls are said to be returning home.

Emmanuel Ogebe, a Nigerian human rights lawyer who practices in the United States and has previously worked with some of the freed girls and their families, said a parent told him that his daughter and others have escaped their captors.

“Mr. Ali Maiyanga’s two daughters were part of the few Muslim schoolgirls taken with the majority Christian Chibok girls. Information currently available to us indicates that there are other escapees with the army whom parents are anxiously waiting to identify,” Ogebe said in a statement to ABC News late Thursday. “We spoke and confirmed from Mr. Ali Maiyanga moments ago that he in fact spoke with his daughter today, who informed him that she along with others were rescued. Her sister who escaped four years ago and is on school break was overjoyed at the news of her sibling’s escape.”

Lawal Zannah, secretary of the Chibok Parents Association whose daughter was among those abducted, also confirmed the news.

“We heard that some of our girls have escaped from the forest, but we are yet to get the detail about their number,” Zannah told reporters Thursday evening.

Another parent, Malam Madu Mutta, said the Chibok community is anxiously awaiting the girls’ arrival.

“We were told they are currently with the security operatives. We are yet to know the numbers, but we are happy that some of them escaped,” Mutta told reporters Friday. “So many other parents and relatives are coming from Chibok with hopes of meeting their daughters. Again, hope is risen that we can have some of them back again.”

Nigerian authorities have not yet released a statement confirming the matter. ABC News has reached out to the Nigerian Army as well as local government officials.

In April 2014, members of the jihadist group Boko Haram ambushed an all-girls boarding school in Chibok in the middle of the night and kidnapped 276 students before vanishing into the forest. Some of the girls managed to escape on their own, while others were later rescued or freed following negotiations. But the fate of many has remained unknown.

Boko Haram, whose name in the local Hausa language roughly translates to “Western education is forbidden,” has waged a brutal insurgency in northeastern Nigeria since 2009. The group seeks to establish an Islamic state there, though it has spread its terror across the region’s mountainous borders over the years into Niger, Chad and Cameroon, all of which surround the Lake Chad Basin, where millions have been affected by the violence, according to the United Nations.

Boko Haram pledged allegiance to ISIS in 2015. Its leader, Abubakar Shekau, and several commanders split from the group in 2016 over ideological differences and formed their own faction.

Boko Haram’s uprising was fueled largely through the group’s systematic campaign of abducting children and forcing thousands of girls and boys into their ranks, according to a 2017 report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The group has been targeting Nigerian schools for a number of years, with the Chibok attack being the most well-known and widely publicized.

The kidnapping in Chibok shocked the world and led to the launch of a social media campaign in which millions of people around the globe, including high-profile political figures and celebrities, called for the girls’ rescue by tweeting the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls. However, there has been little political action.

As the coronavirus spread in the early months of the pandemic, the nation’s nursing homes become a hotspot for the disease — but in New York state, a new report says the toll might have been even worse than previously thought.

The number of New York nursing home residents who died from the virus may have been undercounted by as much as 50%, according to an investigation conducted by the New York Attorney General’s office, which said that many of those patients died after being moved to the hospital and were thus not counted as nursing home deaths.

The probe, whose results were released Thursday, investigated “conduct that may have jeopardized the health and safety of residents and employees,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement that accompanied the 76-page report.

The investigation also determined that a directive from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo based on guidance from the state Department of Health to admit COVID-19 patients into nursing homes in the early days of the pandemic “may have put residents at increased risk of harm,” according to the report.

In March, as cases surged, Cuomo issued an order that required nursing homes to accept COVID-19 patients being discharged from hospitals, as long as they were “medically stable,” in order to help free up hospital beds for the sickest patients. Under the policy, nursing homes receiving the patients were barred from testing the patients to see if they might still be contagious.

After facing criticism from nursing home advocates, the governor in May amended the March order, prohibiting hospitals from discharging patients to nursing homes unless they tested negative for COVID-19.

A preliminary analysis of the data also suggested that many nursing home residents died from COVID-19 in the hospital after being transferred from their nursing homes, the report said, which resulted in their deaths being reported as hospital deaths.

In addition, investigators asked 62 nursing homes for information about on-site and in-hospital deaths from COVID-19 beginning the week of March 1, and found significant discrepancies between those figures and the numbers reported to the DOH. In one instance, according to the report, a facility reported to the DOH that on-site fatalities totaled five confirmed COVID-19 deaths and six presumed COVID-19 deaths, but told the AG’s office there were actually 27 deaths at the facility and 13 hospital deaths — a discrepancy of 29 deaths.

Altogether, the number of New York nursing home residents who died from the virus may have been up to 50% higher than the numbers reported by the New York State Department of Health, said the report.

According to the Health Department’s latest data, there were 8,671 reported COVID-19 deaths in long-term care facilities as of Jan.18.

In a statement released by Gov. Cuomo’s office, New York Health Commissioner Howard Zucker criticized the report’s conclusion that the number of nursing home deaths was “undercounted.”

“The word ‘undercount’ implies there are more total fatalities than have been reported; this is factually wrong,” said the statement. “In fact, the OAG report itself repudiates the suggestion that there was any ‘undercount’ of the total death number.”

Zucker said that because the AG’s report refers to the count of people who were in nursing homes but transferred to hospitals and later died, it does not change the total count of deaths. Audited DOH data from March 1 through Jan. 19 showed 9,786 confirmed fatalities associated with skilled nursing facility residents, including 5,957 fatalities within nursing facilities and 3,829 within a hospital, the governor’s office said.

“There is no satisfaction in pointing out inaccuracies; every death to this terrible disease is tragic,” Zucker added. “We will review the remainder of the recommendations as we continue to fight with every resource and asset to protect all New Yorkers from the scourge of COVID.”

The AG report also criticized nursing homes’ implementation of some of the guidance offered by the Centers for Disease Control and the state Department of Health, saying that might have led to an increased risk of fatalities in some facilities.

It’s not the first time long-term care facilities in New York were found to have failed to comply with basic infection control policies; in September, health inspectors looking at 77 New York nursing homes found safety shortcomings that included basic infection-control violations like failing to have staff wear masks or wash their hands, according to records and state officials.

Inspectors also found examples of unmonitored residents at another half-dozen nursing homes, as well as residents not wearing masks and sitting too close to other patients, according to the report.

The AG report also found what it called “insufficient” COVID-19 testing for residents and staff members in the early stages of the pandemic, which it said put residents at increased risk at some facilities.

In response to the report, Richard Mollot, executive director of the Long Term Care Community Coalition, told ABC News that much of the damage could have been prevented.

“From early on, it became clear that much of the harm inflicted on residents was avoidable, and the result of longstanding failures to hold nursing homes accountable for providing sufficient care staff and carrying out basic infection control protocols,” said Mollot. “Nowhere has this been more acute than in New York, which has a long and regrettable history of paying for substandard nursing home care.”

However, Jim Clyne, president and CEO of the elder advocacy group LeadingAge New York, blasted the report for criticizing nursing homes while ignoring the culpability of state government.

“The report fails to highlight the lack of government support for COVID testing and PPE acquisition at nursing homes and assisted living providers,” said Clyne. “It completely misses the mark on the role asymptomatic residents, staff and visitors had on the spread of infection prior to the lockdown of nursing homes in mid-March. And it fails to note that New York cut funding for nursing homes in the April while the pandemic was in full swing.”

“We can only hope that this report will serve as a wake-up call to our state leaders that New York’s seniors and their families deserve better,” said Mollot.

Several prominent billboards read: “Where are the boys?”

Frustration is mounting in California City, California, where several prominent billboards read: “Where are the boys?”

Brothers Orson and Orrin West — ages 3 and 4, respectively — have been missing since Dec. 21, when their adopted parents reported their disappearance.

The reward for information on the two missing boys now totals $100,000. Both boys are about 3 feet tall and weigh around 40 pounds. They were last seen wearing black sweaters and dark-colored sweatpants, according to police.

Adoptive parents Trezell and Jacqueline West told police that the boys were last seen playing in their backyard.

“I realized that I left the back gate open and I panicked and came inside the house. [We] searched the house, me and my wife,” Trezell West told ABC affiliate KERO-TV on Dec. 23. “Once that didn’t pan out, I got in the van. I looked down the street in both directions; it was getting dark, getting cold.”

Police suspect foul play was involved in the boys’ disappearance, according to California City Police Chief Jon Walker.

“We did a thorough search of the surrounding areas and [the toddlers were] not there so that tells me that they didn’t just keep walking,” Walker said. “Someone picked them up, which would lead to foul play.”

Investigators have not publicly identified any significant leads on the case in the weeks since. Walker confirmed to ABC News that the CCPD has requested polygraph tests for “multiple people.” However, no suspects or persons of interest have been named in the case as of Jan. 28. Investigators said the Wests are not suspects in the case.

Walker told ABC News on Tuesday that the police have received multiple tips from the public and that all of the information is currently being vetted by the police department to ensure it’s credible and worth pursuing.

“[CCPD] will continue to keep following up on the evidence that we do have, try to get more evidence, and continue to talk to more people and hope that someone out there sees them and comes forward,” said Walker.

The Wests began fostering Orson and Orrin in 2018 and officially completed the adoption process in 2019. In addition to Orson and Orrin, the couple has four other children, including two who are adopted and two more who are biological, investigators told ABC News on Thursday.

Walker confirmed to ABC News that the Wests’ four other children had been moved into protective custody and that the couple was staying with extended family. He said the family had to board up their home and temporarily leave town due to the threats they were receiving.

Walker remains optimistic the CCPD can find the boys alive.

“I’m still optimistic and I’m very hopeful they’re still alive, my department, we’re a small department, we’re a small town, and we’re all truly invested in this thing because we want to bring our kids home,” Walker told ABC News, “So I want to believe that they’re alive.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact the California City Police Department at 760-373-8606.