New York Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo faces a backlash for claiming criticism of his controversial nursing home policy is “politically motivated.”
For much of the coronavirus outbreak, there has been increasing scrutiny over the Democratic governor’s order in late March that forced nursing homes to accept patients who tested positive for coronavirus, despite test deficiencies for both residents as for the staff. Cuomo signed an executive order on May 11 revoking the policy, preventing hospitals from sending infected patients back to nursing homes and increasing testing for staff.
Last month, approximately 7,900 people were confirmed or presumed to have died from COVID-19 in nursing homes in New York, according to the state health department. That equates to about 25 percent of all deaths in the state occurring in nursing homes, according to the latest state total from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.
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However, when pressured at Friday’s briefing on why he doesn’t appoint an independent investigator to assess nursing home deaths amid criticism of his state’s own report, Cuomo dismissed such concerns.
“I don’t think his characterization is correct. I think it’s a political problem. I think it’s the New York Post, I think it’s Michael Goodwin, I think it’s Bob McManus, I think it’s Fox TV. I think it’s all politically motivated.” Cuomo said. “If someone were to look at the facts, they would know that it is totally absurd on their face. People died in nursing homes. That is very unfortunate. Only on the top line, we have – we are 35th in the nation in percentage of deaths in homes nursing home. Go talk to 34 other states first. Go talk to the Republican states now, Florida, Texas, Arizona. Ask them what’s going on in nursing homes. It’s all politics. “
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Fox News senior meteorologist Janice Dean, whose husband lost his two parents in nursing homes to COVID-19 amid controversial state policy, criticized Cuomo’s comments.
“Dear @NYGovCuomo, the criticism of your nursing home policy is not about politics. It is about getting answers about why you helped spread the Coronavirus through your facility. Blaming everyone else for your problems is not will make it disappear, “Dean tweeted.
Others tore apart New York’s top Democrat on social media.
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“There goes the New York governor attacking the free press again for legitimate criticism of his nursing policy of sending COVID-19 patents back to nursing homes and killing more than 6,000 people again …” Joe Concha, a journalist for The Hill, reacted.
“Andrew Cuomo says criticizing him for his nursing home policy ‘is politically motivated.’ I’m pretty sure he’s motivated by the families of the New Yorkers who died,” federalist editor Ben Domenech tweeted.
Bill Hammond, director of health policy for the Empire Center, refuted Cuomo’s claim by sharing all the reports that have been made about his nursing home policy, including The Associated Press, ProPublica, Jacobin Magazine, and New York Daily News.
“Are some of the comments exaggerated? Of course,” Hammond wrote. In retrospect, however, a wide range of experts, journalists and commentators agree that the March 25 order was a mistake that, at the very least, ran the risk of worsening a bad situation. Dismissing this view as “all Policy “is poor service to the public health.”
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Earlier this month, The Associated Press reported that “New York hospitals released more than 6,300 recovering coronavirus patients in nursing homes during the height” of the coronavirus pandemic under a “controversial and now discarded policy.”
Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this report.
