The picture in New York’s nursing homes during the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak wasn’t pretty. All told, some 5,000 deaths occurred in these facilities, the vast majority harking back to a state order that patients who had tested positive for the virus be admitted.
It was obvious to anyone paying attention that this order would result in an increase in deaths as the virus spread like wildfire, infecting other members of this most vulnerable population, many of whom would die. (RELATED: Media darling Cuomo mishandled COVID-19, killing thousands)
Gov. Andrew Cuomo was obviously not paying attention. When nursing home administrators complained they were understaffed and in need of more protective equipment to handle the increased patient load, Cuomo shrugged “it’s not my job.” He did send along a supply of body bags, which almost seems like a cruel joke.
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
When it was pointed out to the governor that the hospital ship USNS Comfort was nearly empty and could receive the overflow of patients, Cuomo was unimpressed with the idea.
That was then, and this is now. And now the state of New York has turned over a new leaf. On Sunday, Cuomo tweeted out some new marching orders. Whereas previously asymptomatic nursing home employees who had tested positive for COVID-19 were permitted to show up for work, now all staff must be tested twice a week:
NEW: All nursing home staff must now be tested for COVID twice a week.
⁰This rule is not optional — it’s mandatory.
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) May 10, 2020
What’s more is if a senior facility is unable to provide adequate care, it must [emphasis on “must”] call the State Department of Health to transfer the resident.
Any nursing home that fails to follow health procedures will lose their license.
Remember: If a nursing home cannot provide adequate care, they MUST call the State Department of Health to transfer the resident.
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) May 10, 2020
The master has spoken. As Townhall’s Guy Benson writes:
The threatening and indignant tone is hard to swallow. The state of New York required nursing homes to take in residents with coronavirus, and explicitly permitted actively contagious COVID patients to work at those facilities, for months. Now here’s Cuomo swooping in to clean up his mess, pretending like it’s the nursing homes’ fault that they were following state guidance all along.
Meanwhile, Cuomo continues to outperform the soaps he is preempting on TV daily with his “alternative” press briefings, which the Left continues to lap up even as they ready him for the presidency if not sainthood. Via Commentary’s Noah Rothman:
The outpouring of affection has culminated in some rather nauseating discussions of the governor’s romantic availability. He’s been the subject of fawning music videos. … And if you’re the cloying sort, you can even purchase “crushing on Cuomo” merchandise including, but not limited to, … coffee mugs captioned “Future Mrs. Cuomo.”
