Sisters Vivian Rivera Zayas and Alexa Rivera are in a crusade for justice over what they describe as the “murder” of their mother, who died of coronavirus last year in a New York nursing home.
Ana Celia Martinez, 78, died of COVID-19 on April 1, 2020 in a New York elderly care facility. Almost a year later, his daughters are demanding answers from Governor Andrew Cuomo, whose failure to protect the state’s elderly population has been under intense scrutiny in recent weeks.
In an appearance on “Fox & Friends” on Thursday, the sisters stepped up calls for New York Democrats to hold Cuomo accountable for the nearly 15,000 deaths in COVID-19 nursing homes reported in the state.
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“I voted for Governor Cuomo. My mom also voted, ”said Rivera. “We hope the other Democrats will step up and do the right thing. Their party affiliation and, if they know or are friends with Governor Cuomo, it shouldn’t stop them from doing the right thing. They are civil servants.
“They work for people like me and my mom and others who voted for them,” she said, “and we hope that they will eventually do the right thing, and not side with Governor Cuomo.”
A lifelong New Yorker, Ana Martinez contracted the virus last March while at the Our Lady of Consolation Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in West Islip, Long Island. A temporary resident at the facility, she was admitted to the facility in January to receive rehabilitation for knee replacement surgery.
While in the process of being discharged, the 78-year-old man was forced to stay at the health center after the blockades swept the country in an attempt to contain the coronavirus outbreak.
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In the first two weeks after the blockade began, Martinez warned his family that she was not well and showed signs of COVID-19, including body pain and fever. When their daughters brought this to the attention of Nossa Senhora da Consolação, they said that the nursing home minimized their mother’s condition.
The pandemic undermined “faith and trust in our nursing home system and leadership in New York State,” said Zayas.
Regarding the growing pressure to remove Cuomo from his emergency powers before his April expiration, Rivera told presenter Steve Doocy: “There should be no reason why he still has the ability to make executive decisions that affect others,” arguing that ” it has already eliminated many elderly people and others who are still in blockade. “
Fox News’ Teny Sahakian contributed to this report.