Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo fiercely defended his administration’s COVID-19 nursing home policies on Capitol Hill, facing a Republican-led subcommittee investigating the pandemic. The focus was a controversial March 2020 directive that required nursing homes to accept COVID-19 positive patients, which critics say contributed to thousands of deaths.
A newly released subcommittee report highlighted that nursing homes accepting COVID-positive patients saw an 8.1% mortality rate, compared to 4.1% in other facilities. Cuomo denied any cover-up, attributing discrepancies to difficulties collecting data during the pandemic.
Cuomo shifted the blame to former President Donald Trump’s pandemic response, igniting a partisan exchange with Congresswoman Elise Stefanik. The subcommittee has now subpoenaed Governor Kathy Hochul’s office for additional documentation related to the crisis.
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