New York Democrats Silent on Andrew Cuomo’s Original Plan to Put Coronavirus Patients in Nursing Homes

New York Democrats remain silent on Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) original decision to put coronavirus patients in New York nursing homes.

Cuomo instituted a controversial order in March to force nursing homes — with elderly patients who are especially vulnerable to the coronavirus — to take infected coronavirus patients from hospitals.

Facing backlash from the order, as well as rising deaths in many nursing homes across the state, the Democrat governor reversed the mandate. Cuomo’s new order mandates that hospitals can only send patients to nursing homes if they have tested negative for the coronavirus.

The Wall Street Journal reported that New York’s death rate related to nursing homes rose to 5,398, which serves as a significant part of New York’s total death rate.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, New York has the highest rate of coronavirus-related deaths in nursing homes in the nation.

Republicans and Democrats, state lawmakers, and public health officials lambasted the order.

Ron Kim, a Democrat state assemblyman whose Queens district has experienced many nursing home deaths, said, “The state has failed to protect the lives of the most vulnerable members of our community. The fact we maintained and pushed COVID-positive patients into facilities that were not equipped to handle them, it was a fatal error.”

Richard Gottfried, a Democrat state assemblyman who chairs the state health committee, called for an investigation into the government’s handling of the nursing home issue.

“A tough look at nursing homes and how we regulate them has been needed for decades. The Covid-19 situation has made it much more obvious and much more deadly,” Gottfried said.

Breitbart News contacted New York’s congressional delegation to see what it thought of Cuomo’s original decision to force nursing homes to host coronavirus patients.

All Democrats, in the House and the Senate, did not respond to Breitbart News’s request for comment.

The following New York Democrats did not respond to the request for comment:

• Chuck Schumer
• Kirsten Gillibrand
• Thomas Suozzi
• Kathleen Rice
• Gregory Meeks
• Grace Meng
• Nydia Velaquez
• Hakeem Jeffries
• Yvette Clarke
• Jerry Nadler
• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
• Jose Serrano
• Eliot Engel
• Nita Lowey
• Sean Patrick Maloney
• Antonio Delgado
• Paul Tonko
• Anthony Brindisi
• Joseph Morelle
• Brian Higgins

Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY), the cochair of the House Problem Solvers caucus, called for an investigation into Cuomo’s controversial order.

“The Governor’s uncertain and contradictory orders to nursing homes over the course of this crisis have been concerning. It is clear these orders have put the lives of our most susceptible population in harm’s way. An investigation is needed to ensure this never happens again,” Reed told Breitbart News in an exclusive comment.

The New York Republican continued, contending that the governor’s revised order will put even more elderly in New York in harm’s way.

“Basing public health decisions off of optics, as the Governor’s latest orders do, will only create unintended consequences and ultimately put even more members of our vulnerable elderly community in jeopardy,” Reed said. “We recently called on the Dept. of Health and Human Services to review the impact of the Governor’s reactionary directives and look forward to seeing policies put in place that ensure our seniors are safe, and any related consequences to the restarting of our hospital’s surgical services and the reopening of our economies are prevented.”