Former NY Gov Andrew Cuomo will testify about COVID nursing home deaths scandal

Former New York governor Andrew Cuomo will testify about deaths in nursing homes during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The democrat has agreed to publicly testify next week, on September 10, before a congressional subcommittee, according to The New York Times. 

He is expected to answer questions about the thousands of people who died in New York nursing homes during the pandemic. 

'Andrew Cuomo owes answers to the 15,000 families who lost loved ones in New York’s nursing homes during the Covid-19 pandemic,' said Ohio representative Brad Wenstrup, a republican who chairs the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Cuomo testified behind closed doors for seven hours in June in front of House Republicans after receiving a subpoena. 

The Cuomo administration came under significant scrutiny for a policy that at first required nursing homes to readmit recovering COVID-19 patients in an effort to avoid hospitals from becoming overwhelmed.  That was on top of state fatality figures that significantly undercounted the deaths. 

An independent probe into Cuomo's handling of the pandemic concluded that Cuomo’s 'top down' approach of dictating public health policy through his office, rather than coordinating with state and local agencies, sewed confusion during the crisis.

In the state’s nursing homes, where some 15,000 people died, the administration’s lack of communication with agencies and facilities resulted in wasted resources and mistrust — not to mention anxiety for residents’ loved ones, according to the independent probe commissioned by current Governor Kathy Hochul in 2022.

However, the investigation by a consulting firm found that while the policies on how nursing homes should handle COVID-19 were “rushed and uncoordinated,” they were based on the best understanding of the science at the time. 

The Olson Group’s report, which praised the state’s speedy and comprehensive vaccination program in the facilities, said fatality rates there were ultimately consistent with the rest of the country. 

Cuomo resigned from office in August 2021, amid sexual harassment allegations, which he denies. Hochul, a fellow Democrat who had been Cuomo’s lieutenant, inherited the job and was reelected the following year.