A governor under fire, Andrew Cuomo spoke out Monday defending the state’s conduct during the pandemic when it comes to nursing home residents.
At the same time, the governor acknowledged his administration failed to communicate clearly what it was doing, leaving what he called “a void” that created room for confusion and disinformation.
This is after the New York Post last week published leaked audio from a conference in which Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa said the state “froze” when asked by legislators for data on nursing home deaths due to COVID-19. Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers responded sharply, some calling for him to be prosecuted or even impeached.
In a news conference Monday, Cuomo said a request from the Federal Department of Justice was given priority over the state lawmakers’ request. He said the state DOH has been recording and releasing data all during the pandemic and there has been much misinformation about his March 25th order directing hospitals to discharge patients back into their nursing homes. Cuomo says at the time, hospital occupancy was a critical factor, and patients were only to be received at nursing homes if the homes had the capacity to accept them.
Cuomo said 98 percent of the nursing homes already had COVID in their facilities, mostly brought in by staff who were still asymptomatic.
Cuomo also defended State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker, saying he would trust him with his mother’s care.