The revelation that data on nursing home deaths was withheld from state legislators for months underscores the bipartisan nature of the ruling class response to the pandemic, which prioritizes profit over lives.
Cuomo says state should have responded to legislators, press sooner
Governor stops short of apology, says he created a void information on nursing homes
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ALBANY Following days of turmoil surrounding an admission by the secretary to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo that their office had deliberately withheld data on nursing home deaths, the governor on Monday acknowledged his administration created a void by not providing the requested information.
The governor declined to explicitly apologize for his administration s decision to withhold data to the press and to state lawmakers on nursing home deaths, instead saying he erred by allowing others, including what he described as conspiracy theorists, to fill in the information gap with allegations of a cover up.
ALBANY, N.Y. When Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s top aide told Democratic lawmakers this week why the administration slow-walked information on nursing home deaths, she appeared to be trying to dispel smoldering rumors of a cover-up.
Instead the aide, Melissa DeRosa, threw gasoline on a fire that by Friday had enveloped Cuomo’s legacy of effective leadership during the Covid-19 crisis something he hoped to parlay into a fourth term next year.
Republicans demanded Cuomo’s impeachment.
There were calls for his top staffers to resign.
And members of the governor’s own party who had largely muted their criticism amid budget talks began to turn on him, publicly and forcefully.
Josh Einiger has more on a bombshell report that New York may have drastically underreported COVID-19 nursing home deaths.
The AG s office also found that a larger number of nursing home residents died from COVID-19 than the New York State Department of Health s published nursing home data reflected and may have been undercounted by as much as 50%. Crucial information should never be withheld from entities that are empowered to pursue oversight, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said. This was always about getting the truth and allowing information to guide our response. That is why we had multiple hearings and another hearing scheduled for this month, and why we requested this information in the first place. Politics should not be part of this tragic pandemic and our responses to it must be led by policy not politics. As always, we will be discussing next steps as a conference.