(Patriot.Buzz) – A new controversy has hit disgraced former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo as a bombshell report exposed one secretive decision related to the deaths of thousands of people.
After implementing a contentious policy directing COVID-19 patients into nursing homes, Cuomo’s office actively minimized the severe consequences that caused over 12,000 resident deaths.
House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chair Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) recently unveiled a crucial memo.
The document details how Cuomo’s office intentionally omitted critical data on nursing home COVID-19 deaths from mortality reports.
It also shows that official documents from the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) were manipulated to deflect criticism from Cuomo and his administration.
This memo was released ahead of a public hearing set for Tuesday that will feature Cuomo.
The memo reveals, through witness testimony and public records, that “Cuomo’s characterization of the series of events is demonstrably false.”
It outlines how Cuomo’s administration began tracking nursing home deaths in March 2020 but later altered how these deaths were counted and reported.
Cuomo’s office shifted from including out-of-facility deaths as nursing home fatalities to excluding them from reports starting May 3, 2020.
The directive from March 25, 2020, came at the beginning of the pandemic.
It instructed New York nursing homes and long-term care facilities to accept COVID-positive and potentially COVID-positive patients without sticking to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines or assessing the facilities’ capacity to safely accommodate these patients.
According to the subcommittee, this decision unnecessarily endangered New York’s elderly, the state’s most vulnerable group.
NYSDOH former commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker testified that the March 25 directive was issued following a direct request from the Greater New York Hospital Association.
Testimony from a former NYSDOH employee also confirmed that Cuomo’s team had approved the directive before it was made public.
Following criticism, a NYSDOH report released on July 6, 2020, tried to blame the virus transmission in nursing homes on staff rather than the directive.
However, Cuomo testified on June 11 before the subcommittee that he had no role in drafting the July report and did not remember reviewing or editing it.
Copyright 2024, Patriot.Buzz
