By Christian Wade (The Middle Sq.)
Home Republicans grilled former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday over his response to the COVID-19 pandemic amid contemporary claims that the Democrat has tried to deflect accountability for a coverage they declare contributed to a excessive price of deaths in nursing houses.
Members of the Republican-controlled Choose Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic peppered Cuomo with questions for hours a few controversial directive issued by his administration within the early days of the pandemic that required nursing houses and long-term care services in New York to confess COVID-19-positive sufferers.
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Lawmakers accused Cuomo of ignoring the science on infectious controls in nursing dwelling settings and federal Facilities for Medicaid and Medicare steering that conflicted together with his directive.
“Your directive was not consistent with federal guidance nor consistent with medical doctrine,” Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, committee’s chairman, mentioned in opening remarks. “You do not put highly contagious patients vulnerable with vulnerable patients, subject to infection, or in this case, death.”
Forward of Tuesday’s listening to, the panel launched a memo claiming it has new proof from testimony that Cuomo and his group “made a deliberate decision to exclude scientifically significant nursing home-related COVID-19 deaths from mortality rates” and “heavily edited” New York State Division of Well being paperwork “to shift blame away from Mr. Cuomo and his team.”
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., mentioned the report’s findings present that Cuomo tried to cowl up his involvement in a “fatal order” that led to the demise of “vulnerable seniors” in nursing houses and bought right into a heated alternate with the previous governor after calling on him to apologize to the households who misplaced family members in nursing houses throughout the pandemic.
“This is about the seniors. There are families sitting here today,” she mentioned. “I want you to turn around, look them in the eye and apologize, which you have failed to do. Will you do it?”
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Different GOP lawmakers criticized Cuomo for displaying a scarcity of empathy about his accountability for insurance policies that they claimed contributed to a excessive price of COVID-19 deaths in long-term care services.
“You’ve shown no remorse, no responsibility for the actions of your administration,” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., mentioned in remarks. “That’s simply not leadership.”
Cuomo, a Democrat who stepped down from workplace in 2021 amid sexual harassment allegations, defended himself earlier than the Home panel and blasted GOP members for conducting a “partisan” investigation.
He pointed the blame for the excessive variety of COVID-19 deaths nationwide on then-President Donald Trump, whom he claimed “willfully deceived the American people” throughout the pandemic.
“His lies and denials delayed our response, let the virus spread, and this country never caught up,” Cuomo mentioned in his fiery opening remarks. “And this subcommittee, run by Republicans, repeats the Trump lies and deceptions.”
Democrats on the committee, together with Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., got here to Cuomo’s protection throughout Tuesday’s in a single day grilling and in addition sought to focus the blame on Trump’s response to the pandemic.
The March 25 directive required nursing houses to start accepting “medically stable” sufferers recovering from COVID-19 in 2020 as they have been discharged from hospitals. It was rescinded after a number of weeks, however Cuomo was broadly criticized for contributing to the excessive demise toll within the state’s long-term care services.
Greater than 80,000 New Yorkers died of COVID-19 from the start of the pandemic to Could 2023, together with 15,000 nursing dwelling residents, in keeping with the U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention.
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Cuomo identified that the U.S. Division of Justice investigated whether or not Cuomo’s coverage violated residents’ civil rights in New York’s nursing houses and located no wrongdoing. He additionally famous a probe by the Manhattan District Legal professional’s workplace, which was later deserted. He mentioned each investigations decided that New York’s directive was consistent with federal well being insurance policies that have been in place on the time.
“In addition, this report provides no evidence to support President Trump’s main allegations, repeated over three years, that New York’s guidance killed thousands in nursing homes,” he mentioned. “All credible studies now say that Covid came into nursing homes through community spread, not infected hospital admissions or re-admissions. The numbers don’t lie.”
Syndicated with permission from The Middle Sq..
