A New York Supreme Court justice has ordered state officials to turn over complete data on nursing home deaths from COVID-19, following a months-long campaign to seek their release. Justice Kimberly O’Connor wrote in a Feb. 3 decision (pdf) that the New York Department of Health (DOH) must release the data within five business days of the ruling. O’Connor also ruled that the state must cover litigation costs incurred by the Empire Center, a think tank that filed a Freedom of Information Act request to the DOH and has been at the forefront of legal efforts to gain disclosure of the data. In a Feb. 3 statement, the Empire Center called the decision a “victory for open government.” “We hope Justice O’Connor’s unequivocal ruling finally pushes the Cuomo administration to do the right thing,” said Bill Hammond, the group’s senior fellow for health policy, in the statement. “The people of New …