The state of New York says a large number of nursing home deaths due to COVID-19 was not because of its own policies, but rather because of nursing home workers spreading the virus to patients.

State health officials now say that COVID-19 was not only brought into nursing homes by infected staff who may have not known they had it, but that fatalities were also related to peak staff infections.

The results of the report seem to contradict claims that nursing home deaths were linked to a March 25 admissions policy issued by the governor that said no resident could be denied readmission or admission to a nursing home solely based on confirmed and suspected COVID-19.

The New York State Department of Health released a 33-page report Monday, which says in part,

State Sen. Sue Serino, who is pushing for an independent investigation, says the report comes from the same agency that issued the original March order.

During Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Monday briefing, he blamed the federal government for not sounding the alarm much sooner. He said state officials could have put more preventative measures in place well before the first case in New York on March 1.

"They should've said the virus was in Europe when it was in Europe," said Cuomo. "They should've said the virus was here when it was here and that should've happened in January."