Andrew Cuomo's response to nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic

On March 25, 2020, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo issued an order that all New York State nursing homes must accept residents that medically stable. The order further stated that "No resident shall be denied re-admission or admission to the NH [nursing home] solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19". Since the order was issued there has been bipartisan criticism of his order and the subsequent tracking of the nursing home deaths.

Background
On March 7, Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency in New York after 89 cases had been confirmed in the state, 70 of them in Westchester County, 12 in New York City and 7 elsewhere. . New York State then quickly became the epicenter for the Covid-19 pandemic in the United States. On April 9, 2020 Brooklyn’s Cobble Hill Health Center asked New York State health officials permission to transfer a resident to the nearly empty emergency hospital at Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. That request was denied. By the beginning of May 2020, former New York State governor George Pataki became the first prominent voice criticizing Andrew Cuomo's nursing home response. On May 10, 2020 Andrew Cuomo rescinded the March 25, 2020 order. Andrew Cuomo repeatedly stated that the March 25, 2020 nursing home order was based on the Trump Administration's CDC guidance. Politifact rated that statement mostly false. May 21, 2020 the Associated Press reported that over 4,500 patients that were recovering from Covid-19 were sent to New York State nursing homes. The Associated Press conducted survey after New York’s Health Department did not release its own survey conduct two weeks earlier.

New York State Department of Health’s Report
On July 6, 2020, the New York State Department of Health released a report stating that most deaths in nursing homes were from asymptomatic spread by staff and visitors. Following the report's release Andrew Cuomo held a press conference in which he stated criticism of nursing homes deaths “That has no basis in fact. It was pure politics and it was ugly politics. And now the report has the facts, and the facts tell the exact opposite story.”

July 24, 2020 Press Conference
On Jul7 24, 2020 press conference Andrew Cuomo dismissed a reporter's question about appointing an independent investigator to the covid-19 deaths in nursing homes. Andrew Cuomo stated "Yeah. I don’t believe your characterization is correct. I believe it is a political issue. I think it’s the New York Post. I believe it is a political issue. I think it’s the New York Post. I think it’s Michael Goodwin. I think it’s Bob McManus. I think it’s FOX TV. I think it is all politically motivated. If anybody looked at the facts, they would know that it was wholly absurd on its face. People died in nursing homes. That’s very unfortunate. Just on the top line, we are number 35th in the nation in percentage of deaths in nursing homes. Go talk to 34 other states first. Go talk to the Republican states now. Florida, Texas, Arizona. Ask them what is happening in nursing homes. It’s all politics."

New York Attorney General's Report
On January 28, 2021 the New York State Attorney General Leticia James issued a report that the New York State Department of Health undercounted the total deaths in nursing homes from Covid-19 by about 50%. Attorney General Leticia James stated "Preliminary data obtained by OAG suggests that many nursing home residents died from COVID-19 in hospitals after being transferred from their nursing homes, which is not reflected in DOH's published total nursing home death data."

Melissa Derosa comment
New York Post released audio comment by Andrew Cuomo official Melissa Derosa in which she apologized to New York Democrats. Derosa stated that they intentionally withheld nursing home death information from state legislators out of concern that the Trump administration would use the information against the Cuomo administration. Melissa Derosa stated "Basically, we froze because then we were in a position where we weren’t sure if what we were going to give to the Department of Justice or what we give to you guys and what we start saying was going to be used against us, and we weren’t sure if there was going to be an investigation". Derosa also referred to the head of the Department of Justice's Civil Division Jeffrey Clark as political hack that pursued the information for Donald Trump.

Reactions
Aside from George Pataki numerous New York State legislators have criticized Andrew Cuomo's response.
 * Elise Stefanik: The congresswoman called for an investigation and stated "New York has mismanaged how we approached and how we protected seniors in our nursing homes. We knew going into this that our most vulnerable are our seniors."
 * Bill Deblasio: The mayor of New York City stated “We've gotta know more. We now need a full accounting of what happened. Think about seniors ... their lives were in the balance and their families just desperate to get them the help they needed. We need to know exactly what happened here. We need to make sure nothing like this ever happens again."
 * Ron Kim: Assemblyman Ron Kim told the New York Post that he believes Cuomo committed “obstruction of criminal investigations of health care offenses." According to Ron Kim, Andrew Cuomo threatened to "destroy" him on while the two were talking on the phone.
 * Jessica Ramos: Assemblywoman responded "Trash. No one believes you. At no point did the Administration notify the legislature about a DOJ investigation. People died and Cuomo lied then he had the gall to write a book."
 * Andrew Gounardes State Senator Andrew Gounardes stated
 * Michael Gianaris The Deputy Senate Majority Leader for the New York State Senate stated on Twitter regarding Andrew Cuomo

US Attorney and FBI Investigation
On February 17, 2021 Times Union reported that the US Attorney of the Eastern District of New York along with the FBI had recently began in investigation into New York State's handling of nursing home deaths.