Cuomo, who was accused of covering up the true scope of the death toll among the vulnerable population, said during a news conference on Friday that he did not fight “misinformation” about the situation enough and that it harmed New Yorkers who lost loved ones.
“I didn’t do it aggressively – we didn’t do it aggressively, assuming the misinformation that caused people pain and, of course, pain for bereaved families and that’s what I regret, I won’t make that mistake again. It’s lying to the people of New York State, I will report you. If you are lying in a report, I will report you. If you are lying in a newspaper because of your own party agenda, I will call you, “said the governor.
The governor also announced a comprehensive reform of the nursing home legislation that he is proposing to amend the state budget.
The reform will aim to ensure that nursing home operators prioritize patient care over profits, increase staff and be held responsible for health and safety violations.
Cuomo said on Friday that he would not sign the budget without these reforms.
State lawmakers have already presented a collection of bills that address some of these reforms in nursing homes and are expected to pass the Senate next week.
Residents of long-term care institutions have been responsible for more than 15,000 confirmed and presumed deaths by Covid-19 in New York since the pandemic began, according to the state Department of Health.
Until last month, the state publicly reported only the deaths of residents who died in an establishment, not those who succumbed to the virus after being transferred to a hospital or elsewhere.
“It is a lie to say that any number was incorrect. This is a lie. Total deaths have always been reported in nursing homes and hospitals,” said Cuomo.
The governor did not respond to reports reported by CNN earlier this week that the United States attorney’s office in Brooklyn, along with the FBI, is examining the handling of some of the data on Covid-19 deaths in long-term care facilities. in New York.
Governor defends his decisions
Cuomo doubled on Friday in his defense of the state administration’s treatment of public data on Covid-19 deaths in nursing homes, reiterating points he previously made about prioritizing a Justice Department inquiry into a state legislative request for similar information .
“We paused the state’s request and told them that we paused the state’s requests. They were informed and knew. And we gave precedence to DOJ, yes, because that’s how it works, ”he said.
The governor said he agreed with state lawmakers that it is time to “move on”.
“I spoke with the legislative leaders and we agree that we are dealing with a real pandemic. We have a lot going on. And we have to put politics aside and move on and have a more constructive dialogue, “said Cuomo.
Meanwhile, New York State Senate leaders are promoting a bill that would repeal the current law that grants Cuomo an extension of executive powers and create a legislative mechanism that would avoid unilateral directives from the governor’s office during a state of emergency, according to a legislative source familiar with the project discussions.
‘We made the right public health decision,’ said the official
New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker, in what appeared to be a pre-written speech, reported how the department handled Covid-19’s spread last March.
Zucker said, ultimately, that he feels they made the right decision with the widely debated March 25 order that sent thousands of Covid-19 patients to nursing homes. State officials ended the policy on May 8.
“March 25 did not cause infections at Covid, it was not a factor in Covid’s deaths. The facts are the facts,” said Zucker.
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 identified 37,000 health-care workers infected with the virus last spring.
Zucker said that 98% of the 365 facilities that received Covid-19 patients from a hospital under the admission policy already had the virus prevalent at the facility when those patients were submitted.
He said that 132 nursing homes that never received a patient under the policy still had fatalities from Covid-19.
“We made the right public health decision at the time and, faced with the same facts, we would make the same decisions again,” said Zucker.
Zucker is due to testify next Thursday during a health budget-related legislative hearing with lawmakers.
The governor offered a formal apology to Zucker and the health department during the press conference for enduring “baseless” and “unscrupulous” attacks.
“I want to say to Dr. Zucker and the entire health team, thanks for the excellent work,” said Cuomo. “I’m sorry that you have to do this in a bad political environment, but that’s where we are. I’m sorry that you have to deal with COVID, I’m sorry that you have to deal with the pandemic, I’m sorry that you have to miss your family working seven days a week, and I regret that you have to be abused in party politics at the time. “
CNN’s Shimon Prokupecz and Paul LeBlanc contributed to this report.