Tag: Andrew Cuomo

New Allegations of Cover-Up by Cuomo Over Nursing Home Virus Toll

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/12/nyregion/new-york-nursing-homes-cuomo.html

Excerpt:

In a conversation first reported on by the New York Post, DeRosa told a group of top lawmakers Wednesday during a call to address the nursing home situation that “basically, we froze,” after being asked over the summer for information by the Trump administration’s Department of Justice.

At the time, the governor’s office was simultaneously facing requests from the state Legislature for similar information.

“We were in a position where we weren’t sure if what we were going to give to the Department of Justice, or what we give to you guys, and what we start saying, was going to be used against us, and we weren’t sure if there was going to be an investigation,” DeRosa told lawmakers, according to a partial transcript obtained by The New York Times.

Author(s): McKinley, Jesse; Ferré-Sadurní, Luis.

Publication Date: 12 February 2021

Publication Site: NY Times

COVID nursing home deaths: Andrew Cuomo is running from his part in my dad’s death

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2021/02/11/andrew-cuomo-nursing-homes-new-york-coronavirus-covid-19-deaths-column/4448747001/

Excerpt:

Knowing Cuomo respond, “Who cares?” when speaking about the thousands of seniors who died and were not properly counted wasn’t beautiful.

Nothing about the inhumane way our seniors were treated by the Cuomo administration was beautiful. It should be criminal. 

Author(s): Tracey Alvino

Publication Date: 11 February 2021

Publication Site: USA Today

AP: Over 9,000 virus patients sent into NY nursing homes

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://apnews.com/article/new-york-andrew-cuomo-us-news-coronavirus-pandemic-nursing-homes-512cae0abb55a55f375b3192f2cdd6b5

Excerpt:

More than 9,000 recovering coronavirus patients in New York state were released from hospitals into nursing homes early in the pandemic under a controversial directive that was scrapped amid criticism it accelerated outbreaks, according to new records obtained by The Associated Press.

The new number of 9,056 recovering patients sent to hundreds of nursing homes is more than 40% higher than what the state health department previously released. And it raises new questions as to whether a March 25 directive from Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration helped spread sickness and death among residents, a charge the state disputes.

Author(s): BERNARD CONDON and JENNIFER PELTZ

Publication Date: 12 February 2021

Publication Site: Associated Press

Cuomo aide admits they hid nursing home data so feds wouldn’t find out

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://nypost.com/2021/02/11/cuomo-aide-admits-they-hid-nursing-home-data-from-feds/

Excerpt:

Governor Cuomo’s top aide privately apologized to Democratic lawmakers for withholding the state’s nursing-home death toll from COVID-19 — telling them “we froze” out of fear the true numbers would “be used against us” by federal prosecutors, The Post has learned.

The stunning admission of a cover-up was made by Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa during a video conference call with state Democratic leaders in which she said the Cuomo administration had rebuffed a legislative request for the tally in August because “right around the same time, [then-President Donald Trump] turns this into a giant political football,” according to an audio recording of the two-hour-plus meeting.

Author(s): Bernadette Hogan, Carl Campanile and Bruce Golding

Publication Date: 11 February 2021

Publication Site: NY Post

The State’s Revised Nursing Home Death Toll Leaves Many Questions Unanswered

Mary Pat Campbell
The State’s Revised Nursing Home Death Toll Leaves Many Questions Unanswered

Excerpt:

Numbers belatedly released by the Cuomo administration last week pushed New York’s COVID-19 mortality rate in nursing homes from 35th to 13th highest in the U.S., an Empire Center analysis shows.

The new total of almost 13,000 deaths amounts to 14 percent of New York’s pre-pandemic nursing home population, which is 2 points above the national average (see chart).

Graph:

Author: Bill Hammond

Publication Date: 5 February 2021

Publication Site: Empire Center for Public Policy

NY Senate Democrats block subpoena for COVID-19 nursing home death data

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://nypost.com/2021/02/01/ny-senate-democrats-block-subpoena-for-covid-nursing-home-data/?utm_source=NYPTwitter&utm_medium=SocialFlow&utm_campaign=SocialFlow

Excerpt:

Democrats who control the state Senate blocked a motion Monday to subpoena records of the Cuomo administration seeking a fuller accounting of nursing home residents who died from the coronavirus.

The motion was made by Sen. Thomas O’Mara, the ranking Republican on the Investigations Committee panel during a virtual meeting

The GOP motion to compel the state Health Department to release records came just days after Attorney General Letitia James issued a blistering report that found Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his health agency withheld an accurate count of the number of nursing home residents who died from COVID-19 by some 50 percent by excluding residents who died after being take to hospitals.

Author: Carl Campanile and Bernadette Hogan

Publication Date: 1 February 2021

Publication Site: NY Post

COVID-19: NY Health Director Denies Undercount On Nursing Home Deaths After Scathing AG Report

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://dailyvoice.com/new-york/northsalem/news/covid-19-ny-health-director-denies-undercount-on-nursing-home-deaths-after-scathing-ag-report/802346/

Excerpt:

New York Health Commissioner Howard Zucker is defending the state following Attorney General Letitia James’ newly released report that alleges COVID-19 deaths in the state’s nursing homes were underreported by as much as 50 percent.

The report found the state negligible for COVID-19-related deaths inside New York nursing homes that had previously gone unreported, which Zucker has denied in a lengthy statement released late on Thursday, Jan. 28, just hours after the report was released.

Author: Zak Failla

Publication Date: 29 January 2021

Publication Site: North Salem Daily Voice

COVID-19: Cuomo Blames ‘Incompetent Federal Government’ After AG Report On Nursing Home Deaths

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://dailyvoice.com/new-york/northsalem/politics/covid-19-cuomo-blames-incompetent-federal-government-after-ag-report-on-nursing-home-deaths/802403/

Excerpt:

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is taking some heat after attempting to shift the blame on the state’s COVID-19 nursing home deaths by placing the culpability on the “incompetent federal government” after Attorney General Letitia James issued a report that found that deaths may have been underreported by as much as 50 percent during the pandemic.

Author: Zak Failla

Publication Date: 29 January 2021

Publication Site: North Salem Daily Voice

Cuomo’s Tax Ultimatum

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/cuomos-tax-ultimatum-11611359134?mod=opinion_lead_pos4

Excerpt:

Viewers of Andrew Cuomo’s Emmy-award winning Covid-19 briefings may have noticed how the New York Governor has become increasingly excitable. In this week’s budget show, he pointed an economic gun at New York and threatened to shoot if Washington doesn’t fork over $15 billion.

“If the federal government doesn’t fund state and local governments, it’s going to hurt all New Yorkers,” Mr. Cuomo warned Tuesday while proposing to raise the state’s top income tax rate in New York City to 14.7%. This would be the highest rate in the country, at least until New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy makes a competing bid.

Publication Date: 22 January 2021

Publication Site: WSJ