New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) reportedly gave family members, including CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, “special access” to state-run COVID-19 tests in early 2020, the Washington Post reported for the first time time on Wednesday.
Why does it matter: State employees are prohibited from using their positions to obtain privileges for themselves or others, under the New York constitution. Cuomo’s office countered the allegations in an emailed statement, with senior adviser Rich Azzopard saying, “We must avoid insincere efforts to rewrite the past.”
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It is alleged that “senior health officials” conducted the tests at a time when “the seriousness of the virus was still becoming clear to the general public and the tests were not widely available to most people,” according to the New York Times.
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It is the latest in a series of charges against the besieged governor, who also faces investigations into allegations of sexual misconduct and how he dealt with the deaths in the COVID-19 nursing home.
For registration: Cuomo denies previous allegations and has rejected requests from Democrats and others to step down.
Latest allegations: Chris Cuomo, who tested positive for the coronavirus last March, reportedly “benefited from the priority testing program,” according to WashPost, citing people with knowledge of the subject.
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The CNN anchor “was examined by a leading New York Department of Health physician, who visited his home in the Hamptons to collect samples from him and his family,” the Post reported.
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“The same doctor, Eleanor Adams, now an advisor to the state health commissioner, was also called on to test several other members of the Cuomo family, according to two people familiar with the program,” according to the Post.
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Citing two people, WashPost reported that state police troops helped speed up testing for a public health laboratory in Albany State and some laboratory employees worked well after their shift that night “to process the results of people close to Cuomo “before returning the results to family members. .
What they are saying: CNN spokesman Matt Dornic said in an emailed statement: “We generally don’t get involved in the medical decisions of our employees.
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“However, it is not surprising that in the early days of a global pandemic that occurs once every century, when Chris had symptoms and was concerned about the possible spread, he turned to anyone who could for advice and assistance, such as any human being would do. “
Cuomo Office did not address the specific allegations directly. But Azzopardi said the Cuomo government did “everything to get people tested” in the early days of the pandemic.
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Azzopardi said that this included “in some cases going to people’s homes and door to door … to take samples from those believed to have been exposed to COVID, in order to identify cases and avoid one more.”
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“Among the people we served were members of the general public, including lawmakers, reporters, civil servants and their families who feared they had contracted the virus and had the ability to spread it even more,” said Azzopardi.
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There was “a strong emphasis on contact tracking”, according to Azzopardi.
NY State Department of Health Spokesman Gary Holmes said in an e-mailed statement: “You are asking professionals who have taken an oath to protect a patient’s privacy to violate that oath and compromise their integrity.
“More than 43 million New Yorkers have been tested, and commenting on any of them would be a serious breach of medical ethics. We have built a leading test infrastructure in the country to ensure that anyone who needs a test can get one. That job continues today. “
Editor’s note: this article has been updated with CNN comment.
Go deeper: Biden says Cuomo should step down if the allegations are true
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