On March 25, 2020 New York Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered nursing homes and other long-term care facilities to accept ALL patients from hospitals even if they test positive for COVID-19 – a “dangerous policy. [1, 2, 7 , 10]  The elderly and frail residents are known to have the lowest survival rate from the virus.

“No resident shall be denied re-admission or admission to the NH [nursing home] solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19.” the directive states [13, 18]

The day after the memo went out hospitals immediately started to discharge patients sending them back into care facilities in order to open up beds for what Gov. Andrew m. Cuomo said “will be a surge in thousands more cases in the next few weeks.”  Yet at the time NY had temporary hospitals built in New York (the Javits Centre) and the USNS Comfort medi-ship sat empty in the Hudson River – it remained unused! [8, 9]

On April 2, 2020  Gov. Cuomo cried New York had only 2,200 ventilators in stockpile, enough for only 6 days! [15, 16]

On April 2, 2020 Gov. Cuomo “quietly signed [updated] legislation shielding hospital and nursing home executives from any lawsuits stemming from the coronavirus outbreak.”  Note in 2018 Cuomo received $1 M “donation” from the General New York Hospital Association (GNYHA)—a powerful NY healthcare industry group, to fund his reelection. Healthcare organizations associated with the GNYHA “profited handsomely” from the influx of COVID-19 patients.[18]

On April 7, 2020 New York State Dept. of Health directed COVID-19-infected patients into adult care facilities (ACFs) and into group homes managed under the NYS Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) as “”No resident shall be denied re-admission or admission”. [18]

Shortly after on April 22, 2020 it was reported that nearly 9 in 10 patients who were placed on ventilators died, especially in patients with hypertension, obesity, and diabetes which were the most common comorbidities. Of the over 65 year age group 97% died if placed on a ventilator. [16]

Ventilator policy was revisited after this report, and possibly on the back of April 1, 2020 New York’s ER doctor Cameron Kyle-Sidell raised the alarm reporting in a viral video that ventilators were not what patients need,

On May 12, 2020 Gov. Cuomo then “unveiled a requirement for hospital patients to test negative for the coronavirus before they can be discharged to nursing homes”, reversing his March directive.  This while NY has the highest COVID-19 death toll. [13, 14]

The Department of Health’s “unreasonable” mandate proved to have fatal consequences, nearly half of all COVID-19 deaths in the state occurred in long-term care facilities. [3, 5]

  • On May 7, 2020 State by State statistics revealed that Nursing Homes & Assisted Living Facilities accounted for 38%, later revised to 45%, of COVID-19 Deaths, a clear indication that the virus affects this “specific population” harder than other age groups. [18]
  • By May 28, 2020 the Dept Health’s directive was deleted from the New York government website following the launch of an investigation by Rep. Elise Stefanik. [4, 6, 11, 12]
  • 5 Democrat governors sent COVID-19 patients into nursing homes: Gavin Newsom in California, Andrew Cuomo in New York state, Tom Wolf in Pennsylvania, Phil Murphy in New Jersey, Gretchen Whitmer in Michigan, which in July 2021 the Biden DOJ dropped all the investigation into these governor’s actions. [19]
  • January 3, 2022 – the Manhattan DA closed an investigation info former Andrew Cuomo’s handling of Nursing Homes,  no charges were brought. [20]
  • By April 2023 new stats reveal the pandemic’s first-year toll at 36,337, was up 21% from what the state had admitted.
  • Sept 10, 2024 Andrew Cuomo for the first time would testify publicly before Congress regarding his controversial handling of COVID-19 in nursing homes, which killed thousands of vulnerable seniors. [18]