Cuomo defends decision to delay release of data on Covid-19 deaths in long-term care facilities in New York

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Cuomo said the Department of Health had “put on hold” state lawmakers’ request for the data because they had prioritized a related Department of Justice investigation. He said both houses of the state legislature were notified at the time.

In addition, he said the health ministry had largely put data requests on hold and prioritized addressing the immediate pandemic crisis, which he said created a “vacuum” of facts that allowed the disinformation to infiltrate.

“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 everyone was undergoing? Yes, ”he said.

Senior New York Governor Assistant Admits Administration Delayed Release of Covid-19 Deaths in Long-Term Care Facilities Due to Federal Investigation Concerns
“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, ”DeRosa said on the call, according to a transcript released by the governor’s office Friday.
The revelations undermine Cuomo’s reputation as a straight shooter, sharpened in daily press conferences this past spring as the novel coronavirus raged in New York City. His communicative approach contrasted clearly with former President Trump’s lies and false assurances that the virus was under control and would go away.

Following DeRosa’s admission, Democratic leaders in the state Legislature are in active discussions to draft a bill to repeal Cuomo’s expanded executive powers during the pandemic.

“There is a momentum in the direction of removing his powers,” a source told CNN.

The source said there was support for removing Cuomo’s expanded powers before the aide’s comments were made public, but now “it will definitely happen.” A bill will likely be introduced this week in the state legislature and voted on early next week.

However, Cuomo said on Monday that there was no connection between nursing home issues and his emergency powers, and he said his legal actions against Covid-19 were only meant to protect the public. .

“These are public health decisions,” he said. “These are not local political decisions, and they must be made on a public health basis.”

Cuomo says investigation is politically motivated

The crux of the matter is whether health officials in Cuomo and New York could have better prevented the nearly 46,000 deaths from Covid-19 in the state, the second largest of any U.S. state.
A particular theme of this issue has been the state’s decision to refer thousands of patients recovering from Covid-19 infections from hospitals to nursing homes. Cuomo has long said the move was based on federal guidelines to do so, under the theory that these patients were probably no longer contagious and that hospitals needed space.

A second part of this question was to take a closer look at how many nursing home residents died in nursing homes and how many nursing home residents died in hospitals.

At the end of January, State Attorney General Letitia James released a report that the New York State Department of Health underestimated deaths from Covid-19 among residents by around 50% retirement homes.
In a statement issued Friday, DeRosa sought to further explain his admission that the state “froze” the appeal with lawmakers.
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“I was explaining that when we received the DOJ investigation, we had to temporarily cancel the Legislative Assembly’s request to deal with the federal request first. We informed the houses at the time,” he said. she declared. “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.”

In recent months, Cuomo has repeatedly sought to dismiss questions about the data on retirement home deaths as a “political attack.”

“What I would say is everyone did their best. When I say the State Department of Health – as the report says – the State Department of Health followed the guidelines So if you think there was a mistake, go talk to the federal government, ”he said on January 29.

“It’s not about pointing fingers or blaming. It’s just that it has become a political right in football. Look whether someone has died in a hospital or died in a nursing home. is – people died. People died. “

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