Cuomo, who is accused of concealing the true extent of the death toll among the vulnerable population, told a news conference on Friday that he did not fight the “wrong information” about the situation enough and that New Yorkers who are losing loved ones has, hurt.
“I did not act aggressively enough – we did not accept aggressively enough, the wrong information that hurt people, and of course pain for grieving families, and that’s what I’m sorry about, I’m not going to make that mistake again. If “I’m lying to the people of New York State, I’ll shout it. If you’re lying in a report, I’ll shout it. If you’re lying in a newspaper because you have your own biased agenda, I’m going to shout it out, ‘ said the governor.
The governor has also announced comprehensive legislation on the reform of old age homes which he proposes in amendments to the state budget.
The reform aims to ensure that operators in nursing homes prioritize the care of patients over profits, increase staff and are held accountable for health and safety violations.
Cuomo said Friday he would not sign the budget without these reforms.
State lawmakers have already tabled a collection of bills addressing some of these reforms in the nursing home, and are expected to go through the Senate next week.
Residents of long-term care facilities have been responsible for more than 15,000 confirmed Covid-19 deaths in New York since the start of the pandemic, according to the state Department of Health.
Until last month, the state only publicly reported the deaths of residents who died in a facility, not those who died of the virus after being transferred to a hospital or elsewhere.
“It’s a lie to say the numbers were wrong. It’s a lie. Total deaths have always been reported in nursing homes and hospitals,” Cuomo said.
The governor did not address the news CNN reported earlier this week that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn, along with the FBI, is investigating the handling of some of the data surrounding the deaths of Covid-19 in long-term care facilities in New York.
Governor defends his decisions
Cuomo doubled on Friday in his defense of the state administration’s handling of public data on deaths in Covid-19 in nursing homes, reiterating the points he previously made about the priority of a Justice Department investigation over a state legislature request similar information.
“We stopped the state request and we told them we had interrupted the state requests. They were told and they knew. And we gave DOJ priority, yes, because that’s how it works,” he said.
The governor said he agreed with state lawmakers that it was time to ‘move forward’.
“I have spoken to the legislative leaders, and we agree that we are in the midst of the real pandemic. We have a lot going on. And we need to put politics aside and move forward and have a more constructive dialogue.” Cuomo said.
Meanwhile, New York Senate leaders are pushing for a bill that would repeal the current law that would give Cuomo expanded executive powers and create a legislative mechanism that would avoid unilateral prescriptions by the governor’s office in an emergency, according to a lawmaker source familiar with the bill. discussions.
“We have made the right decision on public health,” said an official.
New York Health Commissioner Howard Zucker appeared in a prescribed speech on handling the department’s Covid-19 distribution in March.
Finally, Zucker said he felt they were making the right call with the widely-discussed order on March 25 that sent thousands of Covid-19 patients to nursing homes. Civil servants ended the policy on May 8th.
“March 25 was not the driver of Covid infections, it was not the driver of Covid deaths. The facts are the facts,” Zucker said.
Asymptomatic employees were the main cause of the spread of Covid-19 in long-term care facilities, according to the health commissioner. He said his department had identified 37,000 people in the nursing home who were infected with the virus last year.
Zucker said that 98% of the 365 facilities that Covid-19 patients received in a hospital according to the admission policy already had the virus in the facility when the patients were admitted.
He said 132 nursing homes that never took a patient under the policy still had Covid-19 deaths.
“We made the right public health decision at the time, and before the same facts, we would make the same decisions again,” Zucker said.
Zucker is expected to testify next Thursday during a budget-related legislative hearing with lawmakers.
The governor offered a formal apology to Zucker and the health department during the press conference for enduring ‘unfounded’ and ‘unscrupulous attacks’.
“I want to say thank you to Dr. Zucker and all the health professionals for an excellent job,” Cuomo said. “I’m sorry you had to do it in a bad political environment, but that’s where we are. I’m sorry you had to deal with COVID, I’m sorry you had to deal with the pandemic. I’re sorry you missed your family working seven days a week, and I’m sorry you have to be abused in the partisan politics of the day. ‘
CNN’s Shimon Prokupecz and Paul LeBlanc contributed to this report.