Former NY Gov Andrew Cuomo Testifies in Committee Hearing Over COVID-19 Nursing Home Deaths

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) was questioned by the Republican-led House coronavirus subcommittee Tuesday on his March 25, 2020 directive regarding nursing homes in the state.

The Directive: The directive told nursing homes, “[n]o resident shall be denied re-admission or admission to the [nursing home] solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19” and “[nursing homes] are prohibited from requiring a hospitalized resident who is determined medically stable to be tested from COVID-19 prior to admission or re-admission.”

For Context: More than 15,000 died of COVID-19 in New York nursing homes, according to state data. The March 25 directive was amended on May 10, 2020, prohibiting hospitals from discharging patients to nursing homes unless they tested negative for COVID-19.

The Hearing: The subcommittee questioned Cuomo about whether his March 25 directive was in line with federal health guidance and whether he revised nursing home deaths down. Cuomo said that his directive was in line with federal health guidance, and that staff, rather than nursing home patients, were the cause of COVID-19 outbreaks.

How the Media Covered It: National Review News (Lean Right bias) highlighted an exchange during the hearing where Cuomo said he did not meet with public health authorities before signing the directive. Cuomo did say that the New York State Health Department was putting out new guidance constantly and that they did not reach out to him. In contrast, CNN (Lean Left) emphasized that Cuomo expressed sympathy for the victims of COVID-19 and criticized President Donald Trump's COVID-19 response.