Cuomo defends administration after close scrutiny of nursing home deaths

New York Gov. Andrew CuomoAndrew CuomoRestaurants Facing Dark Valentine’s Day Overnight Healthcare: CDC Calls on Schools to Reopen With Precautions | Cuomo faces growing surveillance of COVID-19 nursing home deaths | Biden officials set out to quash Medicaid work demands Cuomo faces growing surveillance of COVID-19 PLUS nursing home deaths (D) on Monday defended his administration’s pandemic response, while accepting fault himself, as scrutiny intensifies over how the state has handled COVID-19 deaths in the retirement homes.

The governor of New York confirmed at a press conference that the State Department of Health had “suspended” the investigation by state lawmakers into the data on deaths in retirement homes to give the priority to treatment of the general pandemic and to the request of the Ministry of Justice for similar information in August.

Cuomo noted that both houses of the state legislature were made aware of the department’s decision at the time that led to the “delay,” adding, “They can’t say they didn’t know.

Her press conference comes days after her senior aide Melissa DeRosa told state lawmakers on an appeal that the administration had “frozen” the release of information. Regarding deaths in long-term care facilities out of fear, the DOJ would launch a federal investigation – a revelation that sparked a bipartisan backlash.

The governor admitted that his government’s report of data had led to a “vacuum” of facts, allowing the spread of disinformation, disinformation and conspiracy theories.

“The void allowed for disinformation and conspiracy, and now people are asking, ‘Did my loved one have to die?’ And that’s a brutal, brutal question to ask a person, ”he said. “And I want everyone to know that it was all done. It was all done by the best minds in the best interest.”

“In retrospect, should we have given more priority to meeting requests for information? In my opinion, yes, and I think that’s what created the vacuum. But do I understand the pressure that was everyone undergoing? Yes, ”Cuomo said at Monday’s briefing.

State lawmakers criticized Cuomo’s defense on Monday, saying the administration could have released data after dealing with the DOJ’s request in September instead of answering questions from the legislature six months later, according to the New York Times.

New York has counted more than 15,000 deaths from COVID-19 in nursing homes and long-term care facilities. But as recently as the end of January, the state had reported 8,500 deaths, leaving out those who died outside facilities, for example after being transferred to a hospital.

Lawmakers wondered if Cuomo’s administration could have done more to prevent these deaths and all of the 37,221 deaths from COVID-19.

Last week the New York Post First reported on DeRosa’s comments on the appeal regarding the freezing of information about deaths in nursing homes.

“And basically we froze, because then we were in a position where we didn’t know if what we were going to give to the Justice Department or what we are giving to you, what we are starting to say is going to be used against us when we didn’t know if there was going to be an investigation, ”she said, according to a transcript provided by Cuomo’s office.

DeRosa clarified his remarks in a statement last week, saying, “I was explaining that when we received the DOJ investigation, we were to temporarily set aside the Legislature’s request to deal with the federal request first. . “

“We informed the houses at the time,” she said. “We were complete and transparent in our responses to the DOJ, and then we had to immediately focus our resources on the second wave and the vaccine rollout.”

“As I said on a call with lawmakers, we were not able to respond to their request as quickly as anyone would have liked,” DeRosa added. “But we are determined to be better partners in the future because 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 escalated for months among Republicans in Congress. It came to a head when New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) released a report last month which concluded that the state underestimated nursing home deaths by about 50% in excluding those who died after being taken to hospitals.

Updated at 21:32