“I am wondering who will hold Gov. Cuomo accountable for the deaths of so many older people due to his reckless decision to place covid19 patients in nursing and rehabilitation homes,” the letter began. “I am writing as a daughter who lost her beautiful 88-year-old mother who was receiving physical therapy at one such facility.”
The first stunning breakout of coronavirus senior fatalities took place before March 11 in the Life Care Center in Kirkland, Washington. At that time there were 13 deaths. Since then, at least 24 others have passed there.
Around that time Dr. Anthony Fauci pleaded that special attention needed to be paid to family elders. “It’s so clear that the overwhelming weight of serious disease and mortality is on those who are elderly and those with serious co-morbidity: heart disease, chronic lung disease, diabetes, obesity, respiratory difficulties…”. He said there would always be exceptions but that “if you look at the weight of the data, the risk group is very, very clear.”
Inexplicably, a couple of weeks later the New York State Health Department issued a directive stating, “No resident shall be denied readmission or admission to the (nursing home) solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19.”
The death totals in the state’s senior facilities are now about 3,500. That represents about 25% of NYS’s fatalities. And it’s generally agreed even this tragic number is an under-representation of those lost.
When someone in a generally pro-Cuomo media finally got around to asking about the above-mentioned mandate his answer was curious to the point of being unbelievable. He feigned ignorance.
“That’s a good question. I don’t know.” Really gov? Andrew named his stay-at-home order after his own mom, Matilda, and frequently talked about protecting her. “My mother is not expendable and our brothers and sisters are not expendable.”
Notwithstanding that history, along with some very early high profile public push-back, Cuomo felt perfectly safe in passing the hot potato query to NYS health commissioner, Howard Zucker. Mr. Zucker confirmed the policy and tried vainly to defend it by saying, “The necessary precautions will be taken to protect other residents there.”
Ron Kim a Democrat assemblyman from Queens wasn’t buying any of this. “It’s either he’s lying or they have no idea what’s going on on the ground.”
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Maybe it’s not an either-or. Maybe it’s kinda both, meaning they’re lying now to cover the fact they really had/have “no idea what’s been going on on the ground.”
One way or the other, Gov. Cuomo’s utterly perverse policy has proven deadly for thousands of NY’s most vulnerable seniors. Seems lots of mothers, brothers, and sisters have been expendable.
Tragically, more will follow.
Brit Hume tweeted a Goodwin story about the same topic with the comment, “He claims he didn’t know about it.”
It should be a huge story. We shouldn’t hold our breath.
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