Noah McCrory
NEW YORK — The way former New York governor Andrew Cuomo handled COVID in nursing homes is under scrutiny Tuesday in Washington, D.C.
Republican lawmakers on the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic are asking him specifically about the guidance for state nursing homes in early days of pandemic.
On March 25, 2020, New York mandated that nursing homes admit patients who tested positive for COVID. Cuomo’s administration was accused of underreporting deaths in nursing homesbut the state later acknowledged that at least 15,000 long-term care residents have died during the pandemic.
The former governor entered the building with a wave on Tuesday, intending to defend himself against allegations that the nursing home directive led to unnecessary deaths. Upon entering, they asked him if he had anything to say to the families of those who died. He called the situation a “tragic loss.”
“At one point in this country, 50 percent of deaths occurred in nursing homes. So it was a national tragedy and that’s what we have to learn from this,” he said.
Cuomo was summoned in March and then agreed to the interview in April. The subcommittee also conducted interviews with other members of his administration, including former members of the government Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker.
Cuomo’s Opening Statement on the COVID Pandemic
Cuomo shared a transcript of his opening statement Tuesday morning, before his appearance at the Capitol.
In his prepared testimony, he challenges the premise that New York did anything wrong, insisting that the state followed directives issued by the federal government. He also says Democratic states were investigated, but red states such as Kentucky, Utah, Arizona and Indiana, which issued the same guidance, were not.
Cuomo says criticism of his administration was politicized under former President Donald Trump and claims the Justice Department unfairly targeted Democratic-led states in its investigation.
“To divert attention from its own culpability and muddy the waters, four years ago the Republican administration made many accusations and called for investigations into New York’s response to COVID: those investigations have been completed,” reads in part the opening statement of Cuomo. “The Department of Justice – three times – the Manhattan District Attorney, the New York Attorney General and the New York State Assembly have investigated and none of them have validated the Republican administration’s charge that nursing home admission guidelines of New York were the cause of COVID being introduced into nursing homes.”
He adds that New York has followed the latest nursing home guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
“Specifically, the Trump Administration has charged that in New York, the March 25 admissions guidance issued by the New York Department of Health was allegedly the reason COVID entered nursing homes,” its opening statement continues. . “New York was vilified and attacked for such ignorance and ridiculed for causing thousands of deaths. However, today we know that this was never true. Investigations found that New York’s March 25 DOH guidance was consistent with previous guidance issued by the federal CMS and the CDC on March 4, 9, 13 and 23.”
He goes on to say that it was actually “staff members and visitors who unknowingly brought the virus to the front door of the facility every day for many months before we even knew COVID was here and continued to bring COVID to nursing homes for months until mandatory staff testing was available and in place.”
The former governor is expected to answer questions for much of the day, amid speculation that the decision to call him now is an attempt to hurt his chances of making a political comeback.
CBS New York political reporter Marcia Kramer will provide a complete breakdown of today’s appearance at the Capitol.
Marcia Kramer
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