Delgado joins call for probe of Cuomo
U.S. Rep. Antonio Delgado of Rhinebeck has joined state legislators from the Mid-Hudson Valley in calling for an investigation into Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York nursing homes.
“Politics should never come before people’s lives,” Delgado, DRhinebeck, said is a posting on his official Facebook page Sunday. “The secretary to the governor’s remarks are beyond troubling and warrant a full investigation.”
Delgado was referring to top Cuomo aide Melissa DeRosa telling Democratic state lawmakers last week that the governor’s office withheld information about the true extent of COVID-related deaths among New York nursing
home residents out of fear it was “going to be used against us” by the Trump administration, superficially the Department of Justice.
“Thousands of New Yorkers lost family in nursing homes to COVID-19, a pain made worse by the inability to comfort their loved ones in their final hours,” said Delgado, who represents New York’s 19th Congressional District. “They deserve answers and accountability.”
The disclosure of DeRosa’s comments, first reported by the New York Post, came as Democrat Cuomo and his administration already were facing backlash for underreporting the number of New York nursing home residents who died from COVID.
A recent court order and report by the state attorney general forced Cuomo to acknowledge the nursing home resident death toll was nearly 15,000, though it previously reported 8,500. The lower number excluded residents who died after being taken to hospitals.
Last week, Cuomo came under withering criticism from Mid-Hudson state legislators in both parties after DeRosa’s comments became public.
Some of the harshest attacks, including calls for Democrat Cuomo to be removed from office, came from Republicans. But Democratic Assemblyman Kevin Cahill said the governor and his administration “utterly failed at their obligation to be transparent,” and Democratic Assemblywoman
Didi Barrett said the governor withholding the nursing home information was “heartbreaking, disturbing and ... disappointing.”
Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan, speaking by phone Monday, stopped short of call for an investigation.
“I am focused on getting the vaccine, and getting us through [the pandemic],” the Democrat said. “I will leave that (the Cuomo matter) to the state legislative leaders.”
Still, Ryan said, the need for transparency about COVID-related issues is of utmost importance.
“We have to be completely forthcoming and leave no room for doubt,” he said.