The New York Governor has tried to avoid this day but it looks like an investigation into the nursing home COVID deaths is inching ever nearer. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said previously that the calls to investigate his deadly decision to push COVID positive cases into nursing homes was a ‘political move’ but the families of those who died, as a result, deserve answers.
FoxNews reported:
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Wednesday that it is requesting data from governors of states that implemented coronavirus policies that may have resulted in deaths of the elderly at nursing homes.
The DOJ said it would request data to determine whether it would initiate investigations under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act into New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
“Today the Justice Department requested COVID-19 data from the governors of states that issued orders which may have resulted in the deaths of thousands of elderly nursing home residents,” the department wrote in a release. “New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan required nursing homes to admit COVID-19 patients to their vulnerable populations, often without adequate testing.”
The DOJ specifically cited New York’s March 25 order: “No resident shall be denied re-admission or admission to [a nursing home] solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19. [Nursing homes] are prohibited from requiring a hospitalized resident who is determined medically stable to be tested for COVID-19 prior to admission or readmission.”
Cuomo has tried dodging questions about his judgment on the matter but Republicans have pushed forward. The Democrat even blew off reporters who asked about the nursing home deaths. Anything to avoid an investigation.
Senate Republicans argued that the policy “imported the virus into places that house New York’s most vulnerable” and is one example of why there is a need for an independent investigation into the Cuomo administration’s handling of Covid-19 at nursing homes and adult care facilities, Politico reported.
“We know that allowing COVID into a nursing home is an invitation for it to spread, and we need to make sure that we take necessary steps to protect residents,” said Senate GOP Leader John Flanagan in a statement issued after newly released data suggested 1,700 more people had died at nursing homes and adult care facilities than previously thought.
Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi called the Senate GOP’s remarks “a sick and sad attempt to politicize this pandemic using a policy that is consistent with the current Republican federal administration.”
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