The greatest tragedy of the COVID-19 epidemic was the devastation in nursing homes across New York. After Andrew Cuomo, then-Governor of New York, issued an executive order requiring them to accept COVID positive patients by March 2020.
It was nothing less than catastrophic. The consequences of such a policy were obvious from the beginning. There has never been an acceptable explanation for why he signed that order. However, it was easy to predict the consequences. Tens of thousands die each year from the disease that they contracted. Cuomo will eventually lose his office. However, this is a frustratingly incontinenceful.
Even though his government admitted lying to the media about elderly deaths, it was not enough to hide them. Until it was too late, most media didn’t report the news.
Former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, reveals in his new memoir that Cuomo You already knew What would happen to nursing home residents if this disease spreads? According to Kushner, Cuomo likened it to a “fire through dry grass.”
Relatives of nursing home residents who died following Cuomo’s order told The Post the disclosure heightens their outrage and underscores the need for accountability.
Kushner stated that Cuomo mentioned potential nursing home horrors during a phone conversation lasting 30 minutes. Kushner was part of the White House’s early response to pandemics as they grew in New York.
In the March 15 call, Cuomo allegedly told Kushner, “For nursing homes, this could be like fire through dry grass.”
Cuomo’s subsequent March 25 order said nursing homes weren’t allowed to turn away patients “solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19,” which the families of victims said was a death sentence for vulnerable elderly residents.
Everyone knows what resulted.
Cuomo’s controversial nursing home policy remained in effect until May 10 and was intended to ease hospital crowding. Kushner does not go into detail on the nursing home scandal in his nearly 500-page tome, “Breaking History,” which is due out Aug. 23.
The Cuomo administration went on to admittedly cover up the death statistics from nursing homes to impede a federal investigation.
What is so mind-blowing here is that we all knew it was happening, and that despite the horror stories being told and the few stories we did got out of it, there is a whole media complex that largely ignored the story and didn’t pursue it until they could no longer avoid doing so. It was impossible to ignore the number of victims, so his admission that he had lied was received with more disappointment than anger.
Yes, sexual harassment and assault were involved. Note: This writer believes that these two things can be equally bad.That forced him to resign. He never had to face the scandal and he even plans to return to politics to cheers from his media friends.
He was so highly praised. He was the darling media with his portrayal of Donald Trump in the middle of the pandemic. His portrayal of himself as a leader was met with a resounding ovation from the media, largely New York-based. And what did we learn from his “leadership”? He was wrong in everything.
Cuomo never was held accountable for the scandal. This is truly bizarre. He continued to be governor, despite the scandal, but it was ended by greater media outrage and the #MeToo campaign. There are many New York families that were directly affected by his policies. They will not receive justice.
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