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Now, however, he faces bipartisan calls for an investigation and limitations on his executive powers after a senior official said the administration delayed release of data on Covid-19 deaths of facility residents. long-term care due to concerns about a possible federal investigation by the Trump administration, at a time when former President Donald Trump personally threatened Cuomo.
At the heart of the matter is whether New York could have better avoided the state’s nearly 46,000 deaths, the second-highest total of any U.S. state to date, and whether the decision to remove the residents recovering from hospitals to nursing homes has increased. infections among vulnerable elderly residents.
Here’s everything you need to know about the controversy.
What happened?
James also said at the time that some nursing homes underreported deaths of residents in their facilities.
The report preliminary concluded that deaths were underreported based on a survey of 62 nursing homes, a sample of about 10% of the total facilities across the state.
The attorney general’s report details a facility where deaths have been underreported to the Ministry of Health with no less than 29 deaths.
In a statement in response to the report, New York State Health Commissioner Dr Howard Zucker pointed out that there was an overall undercoverage – saying it was simply a classification question.
The department “has always made public the number of deaths in hospitals regardless of the patient’s residence, and separately reported the number of deaths in nursing facilities and has been clear on the nature of those reports,” said Zucker at the time.
Cuomo said the questions about the deaths began as a “political attack.”
“What I would say is everyone did their best,” Cuomo said at a press conference on Jan. 29. “When I say the State Department of Health – as the report says – the State Department of Health followed federal guidelines. So if you think there was a mistake, then go talk to the federal government. It’s not about pointing fingers or blaming. It’s that it’s become a political football right. Look, if a person has died in hospital or died in a house retirement. It’s – people died. People died. “
How did things get worse?
DeRosa specifically said the administration “froze” on data requests from state lawmakers because it was concerned last summer about criticism of Trump and didn’t know what information it was going to release afterward. a request from the US Department of Justice for an investigation into deaths in Covid-19 nursing homes in the state.
“The letter comes at the end of August and around the same time President Trump turns this into giant political football. He starts tweeting that we killed everyone in nursing homes, he starts attacking (New Jersey Gov. Phil) Murphy., starts attacking (California Gov. Gavin) Newsom, starts attacking (Michigan Gov.) Gretchen Whitmer, ”DeRosa said, according to an call transcript.
In a statement last week, DeRosa sought to clarify his comments on the appeal with lawmakers.
“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.”
Cuomo himself told a press conference on Monday that the State Department of Health has always “fully” reported all deaths from Covid-19 in nursing homes and hospitals before insisting on ” nothing to investigate “.
He also took responsibility for what he said not to provide information to mourners more quickly.
“The void allowed disinformation and conspiracy, and now people are left with the thought, ‘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.”
What were the repercussions?
“There is a momentum in the direction of removing his powers,” a source told CNN’s Lauren del Valle. A bill is expected to be introduced this week in the state legislature and voted on early next week.
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.”
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 are 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.”
Other lawmakers are calling for an investigation into the episode, and the state’s Republican Party chairman has called for Cuomo’s impeachment.
“The seriousness of this cover-up cannot be overstated,” New York GOP Chairman Nick Langworthy said at a recent press conference.
“The Cuomo administration deliberately lied and withheld evidence and information to avoid prosecution,” he continued. “Andrew Cuomo should be prosecuted and Andrew Cuomo should be arraigned if this evidence exists.”
CNN’s Dakin Andone, Lauren del Valle and Eric Levenson contributed to this report.
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