New York COVID-19 nursing home scandal

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Members of the New York Army National Guard visit a nursing home resident in December 2020

The New York COVID-19 nursing home scandal is an American political scandal that began in 2020. In January 2021, Attorney General of New York Letitia James released a report finding that Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo had understated the toll of COVID-19-related deaths in state nursing homes by as much as 50 percent. The scandal was made public on February 11, 2021, when the New York Post reported that Melissa DeRosa, a secretary and aide to Cuomo, privately apologized to lawmakers for the administration withholding the nursing-home death toll in fear then-President Donald Trump would "turn this into a giant political football".

The nature of the scandal is widely known as an "alleged cover up". U.S. Attorney Seth DuCharme of the Eastern District of New York and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have launched an investigation into New York state's handling of nursing home deaths.

Background

Cuomo's order

See also: COVID-19 pandemic in New York (state)

On March 7, 2020, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency after 89 cases had been confirmed in the state, 70 of them in Westchester County, 12 in New York City and seven elsewhere. New York State quickly became the epicenter for the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. On April 9, 2020, Brooklyn’s Cobble Hill Health Center asked New York State health officials permission to transfer a resident to the nearly empty Javits Center emergency hospital, a request that was denied.

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The Javits Center pictured on April 2, 2020, outfitted to care for patients with COVID-19 but with which access was denied to the Cobble Hill Health Center nursing home, where 55 residents would die from COVID-19.

Cuomo issued an order on March 25 that all New York State nursing homes must accept residents that are medically stable. The order further stated that "[n]o resident shall be denied re-admission or admission to the NH [nursing home] solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19".

On May 10, Cuomo rescinded the previous order issued on March 25, which directed nursing homes to admit patients carrying COVID-19. Cuomo repeatedly stated that the order was based on CDC guidance issued by the Trump administration. PolitiFact rated that statement as mostly false, stating the guidelines outlined "COVID-19 patients who are medically stable can be discharged from a hospital to a nursing home, but only if the nursing home can implement all recommended infection control procedures." The Associated Press reported on May 21, 2020, over 4,500 patients that were recovering from COVID-19 were sent to New York State nursing homes. The report was compiled after the New York State Department of Health did not release its own two weeks earlier.

During the initial outset of the pandemic, Cuomo garnered a high reputation for his response to COVID-19. His name was floated as a possible replacement of Joe Biden as the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee due to his newfound popularity. He'd launch daily COVID-19 press briefings which saw early acclaim, it was also where health officials in the administration said they would learn of new pandemic policy before anywhere else.

New York State Department of Health’s report

On July 6, 2020, the New York State Department of Health released a report stating that most deaths in nursing homes were from asymptomatic spread by staff and visitors. Following the report's release Andrew Cuomo held a press conference in which he stated criticism of nursing homes deaths "has no basis in fact. It was pure politics and it was ugly politics. And now the report has the facts, and the facts tell the exact opposite story."

July 2020 press conference

At a press conference held on July 24, 2020, Cuomo dismissed a reporter's question about appointing an independent investigator to the COVID-19 deaths within nursing homes. Cuomo stated:

Yeah. I don’t believe your characterization is correct. I believe it is a political issue. I think it’s the New York Post. I think it’s Michael Goodwin. I think it’s Bob McManus. I think it’s FOX TV. I think it is all politically motivated. If anybody looked at the facts, they would know that it was wholly absurd on its face. People died in nursing homes. That’s very unfortunate. Just on the top line, we are number 35th in the nation in percentage of deaths in nursing homes. Go talk to 34 other states first. Go talk to the Republican states now. Florida, Texas, Arizona. Ask them what is happening in nursing homes. It’s all politics.

Undercounting deaths

New York Attorney General's report

On January 28, 2021, New York State Attorney General (OAG) Letitia James issued a report that the New York State Department of Health (DOH) had undercounted the total deaths from COVID-19 within nursing homes by 50%. James stated, "[p]reliminary data obtained by OAG suggests that many nursing home residents died from COVID-19 in hospitals after being transferred from their nursing homes, which is not reflected in DOH's published total nursing home death data." In the weeks following this report, the death toll of long-term care residents within the state had gone up from 8,500 to 15,000.

Melissa DeRosa leaked statement

On February 12, 2021, the New York Post released audio of Cuomo's secretary Melissa DeRosa apologizing to New York Democratic leadership in a video conference. In the audio, DeRosa said that they had intentionally withheld August 2020 nursing home death data from state legislators out of concern that the Trump administration would use the information against the Cuomo administration and gain political advantage. Melissa DeRosa stated, "[b]asically, we froze because then we were in a position where we weren’t sure if what we were going to give to the Department of Justice or what we give to you guys and what we start saying was going to be used against us, and we weren’t sure if there was going to be an investigation". NBC News reported that DeRosa's leaked comments were the catalyst for the federal investigation.

Reactions

Following the report released by New York Attorney General Letitia James, bipartisan criticism emerged toward Andrew Cuomo and his handling of the pandemic.

Media

In February 2021, in the midst of the launching of a federal probe into his administration, CNN claimed a prohibition on anchor Chris Cuomo covering his brother "remains in place today". This is despite Cuomo having interviewed his brother early in the pandemic, often in favorable terms, which CNN defended on the basis that "Chris speaking with his brother about the challenges of what millions of American families were struggling with was of significant human interest." Actor Alec Baldwin wrote on Twitter, "[i]f Cuomo threatened Ron Kim’s career, Cuomo should resign," referencing an allegation that Cuomo had threatened to "destroy" state assemblymember Ron Kim after he criticized his administration's COVID-19 response.

Prior to the report released by New York Attorney General Letitia James, Cuomo had received the International Emmy Founders Award from the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for his COVID-19 press briefings. After the report, several New York lawmakers sought to have his Emmy revoked.

New York politicians

Former Governor George Pataki lambasted Cuomo, saying how the "cover-up is worse than the crime". New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called for further investigations into Cuomo and his administration's handling of the crisis. Assemblymember Ron Kim told the New York Post he believed Cuomo committed "obstruction of criminal investigations of health care offenses." He also said Cuomo had personally called him and told him he'd "destroy" him for criticizing his administration. When asked for comment on Kim's allegation, de Blasio called it "classic Andrew Cuomo" in an interview with Morning Joe on MSNBC. Further assemblymembers and state senators criticized Cuomo, such as Jessica Ramos, with 14 Democrats joining the Republican minority in an effort to rescind Cuomo's emergency powers on February 12.

Federal politicians

U.S. Representative Elise Stefanik from New York's 21st congressional district called for a federal investigation into the Cuomo administration as early as May 2020. President Donald Trump called for an investigation via Twitter in September 2020, "@NYGovCuomo should get his puppet New York prosecutors, who have been illegally after me and my family for years, to investigate his incompetent handling of the China Virus, and all of the deaths caused by this incompetence. It is at minimum a Nursing Home Scandal – 11,000 DEAD!" Following the attorneys general report, U.S. Representative Nicole Malliotakis from New York's 11th congressional district began to circulate a petition calling for Cuomo to resign. U.S. Representative Antonio Delgado from New York's 19th congressional district also called for an investigation into Cuomo, saying those who lost loved ones "deserve answers and accountability." On February 19, 2021, U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from New York's 14th congressional district stated, “I support our state’s return to co-equal governance and stand with our local officials calling for a full investigation of the Cuomo administration’s handling of nursing homes during COVID-19."

Andrew Cuomo's denial of cover-up

On February 15, 2021, Cuomo defended his handling of the crisis. He claimed that New York state did not cover up the number of deaths in nursing homes, but acknowledged that officials should have released the information earlier. He said that “New York was ground zero for Covid, and nursing homes were and still are ground zero for Covid”. In regards to allegations of threatening Assemblymember Ron Kim, Richard Azzopardi, a spokesman for Cuomo, said Kim was "lying," adding, "I know because I was one of three other people in the room when the phone call occurred. At no time did anyone threaten to ‘destroy’ anyone with their ‘wrath’ nor engage in a ‘cover-up.’"

Allies of Cuomo cited approval ratings showing him above water as evidence of his competency, with Jay S. Jacobs, the chairman of the New York State Democratic Committee, saying "[d]espite the best efforts of the far fringe, Governor Cuomo's popularity remains unchanged; 11 months into global pandemic, 61% of voters approve of his response". As a counterpoint to that claim, Slate credited the high numbers to Democrats "celebrating the idea of the competent blue-state governor [as] more important than reckoning with the reality of a serially underachieving chief executive playing three-card monte with dead bodies." As criticism intensified, Cuomo's approval began to see sharp declines, with a Marist College poll showing Cuomo underwater with 49%, down from a high of 66% in July.

Federal investigation

On February 17, 2021, Times Union reported that U.S. Attorney Seth DuCharme of the Eastern District of New York and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had launched an investigation into New York state's handling of nursing home deaths. Due to Audrey Strauss of the Southern District of New York being the mother-in-law to implicated Cuomo aide Melissa DeRosa, the investigation had to be handed off to the Eastern District to avoid Strauss's recusal. During his confirmation for the position of U.S. attorney general, Merrick Garland said "[w]ith all of these investigations, the Justice Department is open to evidence of fraud, false statements, violations of the law," in regards to the federal investigation into Cuomo and his administration.

See also

• Timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
• COVID-19 pandemic in New York City – for impact in New York City
• COVID-19 pandemic in the United States – for impact on the country
• COVID-19 pandemic in North America – for impact on the continent
• COVID-19 pandemic – for impact on other countries