Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo
Andrew CuomoRestaurants face gloomy health care on Valentine’s Day night: CDC calls for schools to reopen with caution | Cuomo faces increased scrutiny over deaths of nursing homes COVID-19 | Biden officials are set in motion to terminate Medicaid work requirements. Cuomo faces increased scrutiny over deaths from COVID-19 nursing homes (D) on Monday defended the pandemic response from his administration, while accepting some guilt himself, as he studies the way the state handled deaths from COVID-19 in residences.
The New York governor confirmed at a news conference that the State Department of Health “stopped” the investigation of state lawmakers on data on the death of nursing homes to prioritize the treatment of the general pandemic and the Justice Department’s request for similar information in August.
Cuomo noted that both chambers of the state legislature were informed of the department’s decision at the time it caused the “delay,” adding, “They can’t say they didn’t know.”
His press conference comes days after his top aide, Melissa DeRosa, told state lawmakers that the administration “froze” by releasing information. with regard to deaths in long-term care centers out of concern, the Justice Department would launch a federal investigation, a revelation that has sparked a bipartisan reaction.
The governor acknowledged that postponing his government’s data caused a “vacuum” of facts, which allowed theories of misinformation, misinformation and conspiracy to spread.
“The void allowed for misinformation and conspiracy, and now people are left thinking‘ should my loved one die? “And that’s a brutal, brutal question that needs to be asked of a person,” he said. “And I want everyone to know that everything has been done. Everything has been done by the best minds in the best interest.”
“In retrospect, should we have given more priority to compliance with requests for information? In my opinion, yes, and I think that’s what created the vacuum. But I understand the pressure everyone had? Yes,” he said. said Cuomo during Monday’s briefing.
State lawmakers on Monday criticized Cuomo’s defense, saying the administration could have released data after processing the Justice Department’s request in September instead of answering questions from the legislature six months later. , according to the New York Times.
New York has accounted for more than 15,000 deaths from COVID-19 in residences and long-term care centers. But by the end of January, the state had reported 8,500 deaths, leaving aside those who died outside the facility, such as after being taken to a hospital.
Lawmakers have questioned whether the Cuomo administration could have done more to prevent these deaths and the 37,221 fatalities due to COVID-19.
Last week, the New York Post reported for the first time DeRosa’s comments on the call about information about the death of the frozen nursing home.
“And basically, we froze, because back then we were in a position where we weren’t sure if what we would give to the Department of Justice or what we give to you, what we start to say was going to be used against us, still that we weren’t sure if there would be an investigation, ”he said, according to a transcript provided by Cuomo’s office.
DeRosa clarified his remarks in a statement last week and said he “explained that when we received the DOJ investigation, we had to temporarily set aside the legislature’s request to deal with the federal request first.”
“We reported it to the houses at the time,” he said. “We were thorough and transparent in our responses to the Department of Justice and then we had to immediately focus our resources on the second wave and the deployment of vaccines.”
“As I said in a call with lawmakers, we were unable to comply with their request as quickly as no one would have wished,” DeRosa added. “But we are committed to being better partners in the future, as we share the same goal of keeping New Yorkers as healthy as possible during the pandemic.”
Criticism of the Cuomo administration’s management of nursing homes has risen for months among Republicans in Congress. It ended when New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) released a report last month concluding that the state accounted for the deaths of her nursing homes by about 50% excluding people who they died after being taken to hospitals.
Updated at 9:32 p.m.