TOPLINE: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, whose deadly "must admit" coronavirus order for nursing homes led to thousands of unnecessary elderly deaths, recently tried to defend his actions by pointing to a report by his own administration falsely claiming the deadly "must admit" orders were not "a significant factor” in nursing home fatalities. Instead, the report and Governor Cuomo cravenly blamed heroic nursing home staffers for passing the virus to elderly Americans. Whip Scalise and the Republicans on the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis (SSOCC) sent a letter to Governor Cuomo last week tearing apart the data, methodology, and conclusions of his self-serving report. Industry professionals, experts, and grieving families have since demanded accountability and answers for the deadly "must admit" order and flawed report. See related coverage below: Key quote:

"'In addition to being dubious on its face, this conclusion was reached through a flawed methodology,' Scalise wrote to Cuomo on Thursday in a letter obtained by the Washington Examiner. 'Disappointingly, it also casts aspersions on our heroic frontline nursing home workers in the process.'"

Key quote:

 

"Scientists and medical experts are blasting an internal New York state study that let Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration off the hook for ordering nursing homes to admit coronavirus patients. "'They really need to own the fact that they made a mistake, that it was never right to send COVID patients into nursing homes and that people died because of it,' Dr. Michael Wasserman, president of the California Association of Long Term Care Medicine, told the Associated Press." Key quote:

"Scientists, health care professionals and elected officials assailed the report released last week for flawed methodology and selective stats that sidestepped the actual impact of the March 25 order, which by the state’s own count ushered more than 6,300 recovering virus patients into nursing homes at the height of the pandemic. "And some accused the state of using the veneer of a scientific study to absolve the Democratic governor by reaching the same conclusion he had been floating for weeks — that unknowingly infected nursing home employees were the major drivers of the outbreaks."

Key quote:

"In the days since its release, the report has come under withering criticism, from some nursing home executives, medical experts, scientists, and elected officials in both New York and Washington. The critics have challenged the report’s conclusions as dubious speculation and accused Cuomo and Zucker of issuing a cynical document meant to insulate themselves from blame."

Key quote:

 

"Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has relied on the same high-powered consulting firm to guide key aspects of his planning for the coronavirus pandemic, as well as to analyze the results of those decisions, including the controversial policy to require nursing homes to accept residents even if they had coronavirus. "McKinsey & Company’s work on both the state’s coronavirus response and the evaluation of that response presents a clear conflict of interest for the firm and the Cuomo administration."

Key quote:

"'YOU @NYGovCuomo made an executive order requiring nursing homes accept coronavirus patients,' [Janice Dean] wrote on Twitter in May. 'That accelerated outbreaks like wildfire and killed our loved ones. We still don’t know the exact number of cases. YOU have a catastrophe on your hands.' "Yet it’s a catastrophe he’s washed his hands of. In a new 33-page report from the New York State Department of Health on coronavirus-related nursing home infections and deaths in New York, Cuomo’s office concludes that his policy was not 'a significant factor' for the fatalities. Instead, they blame the thousands of infected staffers who continued to show up to work, not knowing they had the virus."

BOTTOM LINE: Governor Cuomo tried to shift the blame for his deadly "must admit" order onto heroic health care workers. He tried to shift blame by releasing a report that has been torn apart by countless scientists and medical experts. Governor Cuomo isn't leading, he's deflecting and hiding. Grieving families deserve accountability. Governor Cuomo must answer for his mistakes.