Academic

FLASHBACK: Why oh why is NY Governor Andrew Cuomo being praised for his coronavirus response? Gove?

By Glenn Reynolds

FLASHBACK: Why oh why is NY Governor Andrew Cuomo being praised for his coronavirus response? Governor Andrew Cuomo does not deserve kudos for his COVID-19 policies. He put the elderly at great risk. And by “great risk,” I mean he killed thousands.

Related: Justice Department Ramps Up Inquiry into NY Care Home Deaths.

The demand ratchets up pressure on Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo after months of bipartisan criticism that the state?s official tally of 6,722 dead at long-term care facilities is probably off by thousands. That?s because New York, unlike nearly every other state, counts only residents who died on a nursing home?s property and not those who died after being taken to a hospital. Cuomo?s administration has repeatedly refused to release such nursing home data to lawmakers and the media, including a public-records request from The Associated Press dating back to May. . . .

An AP analysis in August found New York is probably undercounting nursing home deaths by thousands, noting that a separate federal count since May that included resident deaths in hospitals was 65 percent higher than the comparable state count.

Cuomo, who has generally been praised for flattening the curve in a state hit with a nation-topping 33,400 deaths, has nonetheless faced unrelenting criticism over his handling of nursing homes, particularly a controversial March 25 order that sent thousands of recovering COVID-19 patients from hospitals into nursing homes at the height of the pandemic.

New York?s method of counting allows Cuomo to boast that his state has a lower percentage of nursing home deaths compared to other states.

A friend suggests that this investigation will go nowhere if Biden is elected. My cynical response is that it all depends on which Democrats see Cuomo as a threat and want to knock him out.

Full post as published by Instapundit.com on October 31, 2020 (boomark / email).