NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — New York State’s top health official is facing intense questioning from lawmakers as Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration continues to come under fire for its handling of nursing homes amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker is providing testimony at a state budget hearing, weeks after a report by the state Attorney General’s officer revealed New York underreported coronavirus-related deaths in nursing homes by as much as 50% during the pandemic.
It will also come after one of Cuomo’s top aides admitted to state lawmakers that the administration “froze” on releasing data on nursing home deaths because they feared it would be “used against” them.
The hearing was set to begin at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, with Zucker set to provide testimony around 11 a.m.
Gov. Cuomo has continuously come to the defense of his administration’s handling of the pandemic and nursing homes, saying the numbers being reported were always accurate.
For months, lawmakers had called on Cuomo to release more data on nursing home deaths and nursing home residents that died at hospitals, but the administration was delayed.
Cuomo said he told lawmakers that the Department of Justice was seeking the data as part of an investigation and explained that would take precedence, meaning the legislature would have to wait.
Many lawmakers, and New York State residents, have scrutinized the governor specifically for a March 2020 directive that prohibited nursing homes from denying residents admission to their facility if they received a positive COVID-19 test.
Former secretary to the governor Steven Cohen on Thursday defended Cuomo's directive in a statement issued before Zucker’s testimony, saying it was "appropriate" and based on guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“When it became clear that New York was in the midst of a crisis, DoH issued an advisory addressing nursing homes (the "March 25 advisory") and the circumstances in which patients were to be admitted or readmitted into nursing homes. That advisory, and what followed its issuance, has been much discussed. What has been lost in the discussion is that the March 25 advisory followed federal CDC guidance.,” Cohen said in his statement.
“Indeed, the CDC guidance on which the March 25 advisory is based is still in place. It has not been rescinded or superseded. Throughout last year, and into the Biden administration, the CDC has not changed the guidance. At a minimum, this suggests the CDC continues to support this guidance and believe that it was – and still is – appropriate. Given CDC's position, it follows that the March 25 advisory was also appropriate.”