During his coronavirus news briefing Wednesday, Cuomo claimed he came up with the policy that nursing homes cannot refuse seniors who test positive for the novel coronavirus based on guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
That explanation came in response to a question about “a call for a federal probe into how the state handled the nursing home situation,” in particular Cuomo’s March 25 order requiring homes to take in COVID-19 patients from hospitals.
“Look, this is a political season. I get it. I have refrained from politics,” Cuomo said; if there was laughter in the room, it was inaudible in the video.
“Anyone who wants to ask why did the state do that with COVID patients in nursing home, it’s because the state followed President Trump’s CDC guidance,” the governor said. “So they should ask President Trump. I think that will stop the conversation.”
When asked whether he was “fudging the numbers” when it comes to nursing home deaths — one accusation we’ve heard, considering 1,700 deaths in nursing homes went unreported in the state — Cuomo went back to blaming the CDC.
“Your first point, why did the state do that? Because the state followed President Trump’s CDC’s guidance. OK. That’s that answer? No numbers were changed,” he said.
A reporter from The New York Times (!) then brought up a good point: If these were Trump’s guidelines and if Cuomo has consistently demonstrated a willingness to stand up to the administration when its guidance has been in error, why didn’t he stand up to it this time?