The audit on nursing dwelling COVID-19 deaths from state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli ought to finish former Gov. Andrew Cuomo's political comeback hopes.
AP Photograph/Seth Wenig
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo is reportedly contemplating a run in opposition to Gov. Kathy Hochul, however a devastating audit Tuesday by state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli ought to nip that loopy notion within the bud.
As a substitute of offering mannequin “management” within the combat in opposition to COVID, as Cuomo continues to fake he did, DiNapoli says New York’s response at nursing properties was among the many worst within the nation.
Plus, the comptroller costs Workforce Cuomo with politicizing the Division of Well being — deliberately deceptive the general public and suppressing information in reporting COVID deaths at nursing properties.
DOH “was not clear,” the audit states bluntly. It “routinely underreported demise counts,” by as a lot as 100%. From April 2020 to February 2021, it did not account for 4,100 nursing-home lives misplaced to the virus, falling “far brief” of its “ethical” tasks.
Sturdy phrases. Too dangerous DiNapoli couldn’t discover the braveness to face as much as Cuomo when he was in workplace and his findings may’ve made a distinction.
DiNapoli says the division’s failures started earlier than the pandemic. “A persistent lack of funding” compelled it to “function with out crucial data techniques.” But he additionally cites intentional misreporting (i.e., mendacity) that grew to become a significant issue when “the Government” — Cuomo — “took management of data.” To today, many households “nonetheless don’t have solutions.”
Among the many audit’s findings:
- New York “trailed different states in surveying nursing properties and growing methods to cease infections from spreading.” It surveyed simply 20% of services between March 23 and Might 30, 2020, in comparison with greater than 90% in another states.
- “Insufficient help” at DOH led to delays in organising infectious-disease-control procedures at well being services.
- DOH knew considered one of its key informational techniques was not dependable however by no means corrected the issue, limiting its “means to reply.”
On the coronary heart of the scandal, in fact: Workforce Cuomo’s order for nursing properties to just accept COVID-contagious sufferers, regardless that the then-gov himself rightly warned the virus might unfold “like fireplace by dry grass” at such services. The delays and lies have been meant to cover the ensuing deaths.
And lest any doubt a coverup, DiNapoli notes that the division “imposed impediments” on his audit and delayed offering requested knowledge (because it did with different watchdogs).
The brand new findings echo these of different investigators, similar to state Legal professional Common Letitia James and people within the Meeting. However that solely highlights how late DiNapoli is to the sport.
No less than it’s one other blow to any Cuomo comeback. The ex-gov brags that he’s escaped prison costs for all these allegations of sexual abuse. However the scathing experiences of his nursing-home fiasco are indictment sufficient: Andrew Cuomo ought to by no means maintain any political workplace once more.
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