As we have long reported, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, at the onset of the COVID Pandemonium Panic in March, issued an order forcing elderly people out of hospitals and into nursing homes to free up more hospital beds.
On 26 August, the Justice Department issued letters to Governor Cuomo and the governors of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan demanding data relating to the coronavirus at state nursing facilities.
In the case of Governor Cuomo, the issue questioned his 25 March order that “no resident shall be denied re-admission or admission to a nursing home.” Thus, his edict forced nursing homes to accept patients with COVID-19, bringing them into facilities among those most vulnerable to die from the virus.
The governor’s concern that hospitals would be overwhelmed was not backed by evidence. Even at New York’s highest peak of COVID-19, 15 percent of hospital beds and 10 percent of intensive care units were available. Moreover, there were beds available in the Javits Convention Center, which had been converted into a makeshift hospital, as well as beds on a U.S. Navy hospital ship brought in during the peak, which were barely used.
Under public and media pressure, Governor Cuomo rescinded his order on 10 May, but he vehemently rejected claims his order had increased New York’s death rate from the coronavirus.
The Deadly Facts
On 22 May, ABC News reported, “More than 4,500 recovering coronavirus patients were sent to New York’s already vulnerable nursing homes under a controversial state directive that was ultimately scrapped amid criticisms it was accelerating the nation’s deadliest outbreaks, according to a count by The Associated Press.”
Yet on 24 June, the governor’s New York State Department of Health claimed the rate of death in nursing homes was the lowest among neighboring states. This is clearly false and misleading, as it only counted deaths occurring while patients were in nursing homes, leaving out the many who contracted the virus in the homes but died after being transported to hospitals. It should be noted that no other states manipulated the death count this way.
Governor Cuomo’s official report also lied about when the virus peaked, claiming 8 April as the date. Yet, CDC data clearly shows high numbers of hospitalizations among residents aged 85 and older all the way through the following month (the decrease claimed was only among other, less vulnerable age groups).
Since the controversy first emerged in April, the governor and his staff have consistently resisted inquiries by the media and his Democratically-controlled legislature. Now, with the federal Justice Department requiring answers, Governor Cuomo has dismissed this action as a Trump administration political vendetta.
But the federal government is not the only interested party demanding truth from the Cuomo administration.
Last March, the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, responsible for protecting those in elder care facilities, began an investigation that includes accusations of abuse and neglect.
On 19 August, lawmakers in the state capital started advocating for a bi-partisan, independent commission to look into at least 6,447 deaths in state-regulated elder care facilities and Governor Cuomo’s role.
Just last Friday, the Empire Center for Public Policy, a government watchdog agency, charged the NYS Department of Health with delay tactics against the agency’s request for data on the nursing home deaths through the Freedom of Information Act. The NYS Department of Health claims it is doing a “diligent search” for records, which takes time.
The head of the watchdog agency countered that nursing homes were required by state law to file daily reports, which include deaths from COVID-19 both within nursing homes as well as in hospitals.
Bureaucratic Arrogance
At a hearing last month, the state Health Commissioner, Dr. Howard Zucker, confirmed that the data on nursing home death tolls can be accessed, but he was not ready to make it public.
Among the lawmakers pressing for answers was Democratic State Senator James Skoufis, who commented, “Governor Cuomo has rightly described the virus ripping through nursing homes as ‘a fire through dry grass.’ It’s now up to the Legislature to determine who lit the match and understand how and why the fire fanned out.”
TRENDPOST: Although New York’s death rate is second highest in the country after New Jersey’s and Governor Cuomo’s actions were responsible for severely jeopardizing the lives of those most likely to die from the virus, he still is championed by the media and adored by his followers for his handling of COVID-19.
Indeed, beyond being a keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention last month, as reported in the Trends Journal, he has signed a major book deal with Crown, an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group.
Cuomo’s book, “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic,” is scheduled to be released on 13 October.
