Cuomo defends handling of Covid-19 crisis in nursing homes

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo went on the defensive Friday against widespread criticism that his administration undercounted by more than 4,000 the number of nursing home patients who died of Covid-19 in the state.

The governor spoke about nursing homes during a one hour and 35-minute  update on the coronavirus.

"I want to set the record straight on nursing homes, for a number of reasons, primarily for the families of nursing home people," Cuomo said.

The governor said he was sorry that he did not "take on the lies" enough in dismissing criticisms of the state's handling of the Covid-19 crisis in nursing homes because he felt the criticisms were political.

Cuomo said his administration created a void by not producing enough public information fast enough.

"What happens in a void, especially today, in this toxic political environment, something fills the void," said the governor, noting that that is often conspiracy and rumors.

"If you don't correct it, it gets repeated and repeated and people think it's true," Cuomo said.

"We created the void ... but then it was exploited," he added.

Cuomo accused Republicans in the state Legislature of playing politics.

"No one has a right to spread lies or misinformation that causes pain to families," he said.

"This was causing pain to those who have lost a loved one," Cuomo added. "Not only did we create a void, we didn't fight back against the lies and the politics and the distortions."

Misinformation leads to misunderstanding, he said.

"Now I have people who lost a loved one saying: 'I don't understand ... they're saying my father could have lived ... my father only died because a person came from a hospital and brought Covid into the nursing home.' ..." said Cuomo.

"They're getting pieces of information. They're listening to these zealots spin these tales," he added.

Cuomo blamed what he called his complacence which, he said, was wrong.

"All this said," Cuomo said, "I am not going to be complacent anymore."

Meanwhile, Katy Delgado, Senate Republican communications director, released a statement Friday accusing the governor of deception.

"It’s obvious to anyone with eyes and ears that the Governor continued to unravel today with more lies and deception about his coverup of nursing home deaths, but he also raised another important question – why didn’t Senate Democrats send the subpoenas for information his administration was hiding for months?" Delgado said.

"Our Senate Republican Conference has called for subpoenas again and again. We were rebuffed every single time by Senators Skoufis and May, despite the fact they knew the information wasn’t coming," she added.

The governor also defended the reporting of nursing home deaths, insisting that the total number of deaths was faithfully and consistently provided to the public.

"Fact: All information was accurate and all total deaths were provided," the governor said. "This information of total deaths was provided, always."

The governor said he spoke with legislative leaders and all parties agreed on the necessity to put the politics aside and move forward.

"I said to them, I'm not going to let people lie to the people of New York without answering them," Cuomo said.

"I'm not going to let you lie to them. It's cruel to lie to a person who is looking for closure ... with the death of a loved one," he said.

"It's cruel to public health officials who have dedicated their lives to public health service," the governor added.

Cuomo defended Health Commissioner Howard Zucker, while sharing a slide of Zucker's professional accomplishments before turning the briefing over to Zucker.

"I've thought a lot about the March 25 memo and all of the decisions we've made," Zucker said, adding that doctors reviewed every decision regarding the governor's executive order that said nursing homes had to admit Covid-positive residents after they were released from hospitals.

That executive order was included in the March 25 memo.

"With the facts that we had at that moment in time, it was the correct decision from a public health point of view," Zucker added. "March 25 was not the driver of Covid infections, Covid fatalities."

Later in the briefing, Cuomo noted that people died both in hospitals and nursing homes.

"We must learn the lessons ... and be better prepared for the next pandemic," he said.