Fox News’ senior meteorologist Janice Dean’s sister-in-law Donna Johnson, who lost her parents to COVID-19 after they were exposed in New York health care facilities, emphasized on Tuesday that people do not go to nursing homes. to die.
“Our governor appears on TV and says such ridiculous things,” Johnson told Fox & Friends on Tuesday. “I think the last thing that makes me so sad is when he talks about patients in the nursing home, he acts like you go to a nursing home and dies, big deal.”
“You don’t go to a nursing home and you die. They are people’s homes ”, she stressed, referring that some of the nursing homes are rehabilitation centers and where people of all ages are present.
Last month, the Washington Post reported that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said, “See, if a person died in a hospital or in a nursing home, it is – people died.”
“People died. ‘I was in a hospital, I was transferred to a nursing home and my father died.’ ‘My father was in a nursing home, he was transferred to a hospital, my father died.’ People died, “he continued.
“But who cares? 33 [percent]. 28 [percent]. He died in a hospital. He died in a nursing home, “added Cuomo, according to the Post.” They died. “
Johnson told host Brian Kilmeade that about a year ago, his father’s rehabilitation clinic in New York was closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. She noted that her mother was in a nearby assisted living unit and the plan was for her father to “get a little healthier and go and join my mother in assisted living”.
Johnson said that one afternoon his brother received a phone call saying that his father was not feeling well.
“I do not believe that the call led us to believe that he was in serious danger and it was only a few hours after he received the next call that my father had passed away,” she said.
“Having COVID didn’t even cross our minds and we learned that my father had COVID when the undertaker received the death certificate.”
Johnson also noted that shortly after that, his mother started to feel unwell and about a week later she was transported to the hospital, where she tested positive for COVID-19 and “progressively got worse”. Johnson said his mother died in the hospital.
“The last words my mom said to me were, ‘Donna, I’m scared,'” said Johnson.
“I would like to ask Governor Cuomo how he would feel if he had to live every day with his mother’s last words, ‘Andrew, I’m scared.'”
A spokesman for Cuomo did not immediately respond to Fox News’s request for comment.
On Monday, Cuomo declined to say whether he or any member of his cabinet had been summoned in connection with ongoing investigations into how the government handled home care during the pandemic.
When asked during a conference call about any potential subpoenas, Cuomo said his office has been investigating since August and will continue to do so. He, however, did not speak directly about the subpoena issue.
Cuomo’s office is under increasing scrutiny about how he handled patient care in nursing homes and how he reported patient deaths, including intentionally underreporting fatalities for fear that the disclosure of the information might have been used against the administration, as suggested by an advisor.
A report released by New York Attorney General Letitia James at the end of last month revealed that the total number of deaths in nursing homes in the state was higher than previously expected – underestimated by up to 55%.
The Department of Health revealed shortly after James’ report was released that an additional 3,829 residents died after being transferred to hospitals, which represents about 40% more deaths than previously reported. At least 12,743 long-term care residents died of the virus by January 19.
New data released this month brought those numbers to at least 14,100.
Republicans in the state legislature on Monday moved forward in an effort to remove Cuomo from his emergency authority during the pandemic. State Democrats made an effort to formally censor Cuomo, which would serve as a public rebuke to his actions.
Johnson noted on Tuesday that he has several questions for the governor.
“I would like to know why he did not use the tools that President Trump gave him,” said Johnson. “He asked for the ship. He had the ship. It was empty there. He had the Javits Center, it was empty there.”
She also pointed out that where she is on Long Island, makeshift hospitals were located in parking lots.
“Why didn’t you use these facilities? I just wonder why? What made you sign this mandate to send COVID-infected patients to facilities that were not equipped?” she continued to ask.
Johnson also noted that she would pass the rehabilitation center where her father was living on Long Island every day during the block to leave the newspaper and she would see employees “using garbage bags”, noting that they were not equipped to handle the pandemic.
“What kind of PPE [personal protective equipment] that’s it? “Johnson asked.
A spokesman for Cuomo also did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for answers to Johnson’s questions.
Johnson said on Tuesday that she is “proud” of her sister-in-law Janice Dean for being a voice for families who have lost relatives living in nursing homes and welfare facilities.
“I am so sure that my parents are very proud of her,” Johnson told Kilmeade. “My parents were not the type of person who would like their face to appear on TV and they would not want attention, but on the other hand, my father always taught us to always defend himself and keep for people who cannot defend themselves . ”
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“I know how proud my parents are looking at her smiling,” he added. “We are forever grateful.”
Fox News’s Brittany De Lea contributed to this report.