Governor Andrew Cuomo is facing a lot of backlash over his treatment of nursing homes in New York City, especially with the rising death tolls with COVID-19 cases. The House Minority Whip, Steve Scalise, has been very open with his criticism of the governor, saying that he “lied about the death toll” after his decision to send people with COVID-19 into nursing homes. According to a 2-part podcast episode from the Daily, titled “When Covid Hit Nursing Homes,” it was revealed that families of nursing home residents were not made aware of the fact that their loved ones were being exposed to COVID. And even when those people were sick, they often weren’t being tested for COVID-19. It was very difficult for people who lost their loved ones, as they believed that the nursing homes should have done better for caring for their loved ones. That wasn’t the only barrier that they would have to face, however. It was later revealed that Governor Cuomo instated a law stating that hospitals and nursing homes couldn’t be sued for nursing home deaths. Not only that, but there were also starting to be claims that Governor Cuomo was freezing the nursing home death toll. Not only that, but if nursing home residents were sent to the hospital and died there, there was a chance that they wouldn’t be counted in the nursing home death toll. Although this is all the information we have right now, it will be interesting to see how Governor Cuomo responds to these concerns about his reaction to the COVID-19 situation when it comes to nursing homes, where some of our most vulnerable citizens live.

Sources:

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/coronavirus-ny-andrew-cuomo-nursing-home-deaths-cover-up-timeline