Cuomo grilled by Congress over COVID nursing home deaths

Andrew Cuomo did not express regret for his administration's policies that required nursing homes to admit COVID-19-positive patients in the early months of the pandemic. During a closed-door interview with the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, Cuomo blamed an unknown staffer at the Department of Health for creating the policy. Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, who questioned Cuomo, found it hard to believe his explanation, especially since Cuomo held daily briefings on the pandemic from March to June 2020. Malliotakis and her colleagues reported the issue to the Executive Chamber after receiving complaints from constituents and nursing homes. Cuomo also shifted blame to the Trump administration for issuing recommendations that nursing homes continue to care for COVID-19-positive patients. Evidence from Cuomo's impeachment inquiry suggested that the number of nursing home deaths due to the policy could have been as high as 9,844, with the Department of Health underreporting deaths. Cuomo cited asymptomatic positive nursing home workers as a contributing factor to the high death toll. Republican lawmakers on the House Select Subcommittee specifically questioned Cuomo about New York's nursing home guidance during the early days of the pandemic.