DR. FLIP-FLOP
Now he values transparency! Embattled state Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker has long been criticized as the point man in ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s efforts to cover up the true tally of coronavirus deaths of nursing-home residents.
But Zucker on Thursday took a swipe at his old boss and suggested he was just following Cuomo’s orders while also praising new Gov. Hochul’s commitment to releasing more complete COVID-19 data.
“I’m thrilled Gov. Kathy Hochul has taken the helm in the state . . . Her leadership allowing me and all of DOH to get the data out is refreshing,” Zucker (pictured) said. “And her commitment, as she has said, to transparency is revitalizing.”
Zucker made the remarks before the Department of Health’s planning committee approved an emergency order requiring 450,000 health-care workers to get the coronavirus vaccine — or risk being fired.
During her first day as governor Tuesday, Hochul released an update that showed more than 55,000 New Yorkers were killed by COVID-19 — 12,000 more than the 43,000 reported in Cuomo’s daily updates. The higher tally is based on figures the DOH provides to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Zucker’s post-Cuomo conversion to a data-reporting champion provoked outrage from nursing-home family advocates.
Only after state Attorney General Letitia James released a damning report in January that found the Cuomo administration was low-balling COVID-19 nursing-home resident deaths by 50 percent did Zucker release more complete figures. The tally released by Team Cuomo included only residents who died in nursing homes, excluding thousands who died in hospitals and elsewhere.
“Zucker is trying to cover his tracks. He’s trying to blame everything on disgraced Cuomo — but he was complicit,” said Tracey Alvino, a co-director of VoicesForSeniors,
Alvino’s dad, Daniel, was one of the 16,000 nursing-home residents who died from COVID, many following Cuomo and Zucker’s March 25, 2020, mandate that forced nursing homes to accept COVID patients released from hospitals. Zucker insisted the policy was not a major driver of nursing-home deaths — although Cuomo later rescinded it and some studies claimed it was a factor.
“Zucker was instrumental in putting out the fraudulent COVID data and he’s the one who signed the order putting 9,000 hospital patients with COVID into nursing homes. Nursing-home families deserve to know why Zucker is still employed by Gov. Kathy Hochul,” Alvino said.
Assemblyman Ron Kim (D-Queens) called Zucker’s remarks “a cowardly act to save his own ass.”
“Zucker’s got to go. He’s beyond unethical. He was Cuomo’s enabler, enforcer and executioner,” said Kim.
Hochul on Thursday emphasized she’s taking a 45-day transition period to determine who stays and who will be replaced.