Cuomo Blames Nursing Homes for COVID Patients He Made Them Take
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is yet another Democratic leader who has failed to accept any personal responsibility during the coronavirus crisis.
Early on in the pandemic, Cuomo made it clear that he was in charge of “his” state and enacted orders shutting down restaurants and other businesses.
“The buck stops on my desk,” Cuomo said on March 17 to audiences across the country. “Your local mayor did not close your restaurants, your bars, your gyms or your schools. I did. I did. I assume full responsibility. … If you are upset by what we have done, be upset at me.”
Well, his tune certainly changed when he got caught red-handed ordering nursing homes to take coronavirus patients back in March, which ultimately led to a significant number of New York’s COVID-19 deaths.
On March 25, the governor issued an executive order stripping away nursing homes’ rights to reject accepting patients who tested positive for the virus.
“No resident shall be denied re-admission or admission to the [nursing home] solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19. [Nursing homes] are prohibited from requiring a hospitalized resident who is determined medically stable to be tested for COVID-19 prior to admission or readmission,” the order read.
The original order (with @NYGovCuomo‘s name right on it!) literally did not even allow incoming patients to be *tested* much less rejected. https://t.co/MjmjzYeDBN pic.twitter.com/2VXT3QMIqH
— jerylbier (@JerylBier) May 27, 2020
As of May 11, according to The New York Times, well over 5,000 COVID-19 deaths have come from New York nursing homes. That number sheds a disturbing light on Cuomo’s disastrous order.
At a Wednesday news conference, Cuomo said that nursing homes “don’t have a right to object. That is the rule and that is the regulation and they have to comply with that,” the New York Post reported.
And the governor is now shifting the blame to the nursing homes that he forced to take COVID patients.
“The regulation is common sense: If you can’t provide adequate care, you can’t have the patient in your facility and that’s your basic fiduciary obligation — I would say, ethical obligation — and it’s also your legal obligation,” he said.
Cuomo’s negligence potentially cost thousands of lives, but he is fighting to deflect any wrongdoing on his part.
It’s not just the innocent nursing homes that are receiving blame. Arguably the left’s biggest scapegoat, President Donald Trump, has also found himself in Cuomo’s crosshairs.
Cuomo and his team insisted that his order was in direct correlation with the Trump administration’s policy.
“What New York did was follow what the Republican administration said to do. … Don’t criticize the state for following the president’s policy,” Cuomo said at a Saturday briefing, Fox News reported.
The same day, Cuomo’s aide Melissa DeRosa said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines were a basis for several states’ recommendations for receiving coronavirus patients into nursing homes.
“Nursing homes should admit any individuals that they would normally admit to their facility, including individuals from hospitals where a case of COVID-19 was/is present. Also, if possible, dedicate a unit/wing exclusively for any residents coming or returning from the hospital. This can serve as a step-down unit where they remain for 14 days with no symptoms,” the guidelines state.
“Not could. Should,” DeRosa said. “That is President Trump’s CMS and CDC. … There are over a dozen states that did the exact same thing.”
The administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, however, refuted those claims on Wednesday.
“Under no circumstances should a hospital discharge a patient to a nursing home that is not prepared to take care of those patients’ needs,” CMS Administrator Seema Verma said on Fox News Radio’s “The Brian Kilmeade Show.”
“President Trump took very early actions when it came to nursing homes,” Verma went on. “We prohibited visitors [and] put out guidance to both nursing homes and states.”
To make matters even shadier, Cuomo’s disastrous March order has reportedly been deleted by the New York Department of Health, according to Fox. The order is no longer available on the state’s website.
Somehow Cuomo has still captured the hearts of leftists across the country, despite his massive faux pas. The establishment media is intent on portraying him as a hero instead of the villain.
Andrew Cuomo’s approval rating has surged beyond 80 percent. New York is the global epicenter for COVID-19 and there’s little the government did well to contain the virus in its early stages. 20,000+ people have died. It is truly one of the most remarkable PR coups of all-time.
— Ross Barkan (@RossBarkan) May 7, 2020
Cuomo is playing the ultimate blame game: abusing his power to justify ill-planned orders, then deflecting from the issue and refusing to take responsibility. Unfortunately, no matter how Cuomo attempts to rationalize his devastating nursing home order, it won’t bring back the lives lost because of it.
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