The Department of Justice has issued a press release that is attracting a sizable amount of attention. They are finally looking to get to the bottom of the issues that have been taking place in nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. States that required their nursing homes to house infected patients are being asked to turn over their information as soon as possible.
These states include Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey. In these states, patients were often admitted to these homes without any sort of adequate testing. “No resident shall be denied re-admission or admission to [a nursing home] solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19. [Nursing homes] are prohibited from requiring a hospitalized resident who is determined medically stable to be tested for COVID-19 prior to admission or readmission,” read the New York order on March 25.
The Centers for Disease Control reports that New York currently has the highest number of COVID-19 related deaths in the country. Over 30,000 have passed away and many of these victims reside in nursing homes. The pandemic has been especially brutal for the elderly. The death rates in New York and New Jersey are actually the highest in the entire nation.
Texas and Florida have larger populations than the state of New York and their death rates are lower. Yet, the mainstream media portrays these states as the example of what not to do. Meanwhile, New York and New Jersey get all sorts of credit that they have not even earned. Meanwhile, Governor Cuomo is claiming that there is nothing that could have been done to prevent such a tragedy.
“Older people, vulnerable people are going to die from this virus. That is going to happen despite whatever you do. Because with all our progress as a society, we can’t keep everyone alive. Despite what everything you do and older people are more vulnerable. And that is a fact. And that is not going to change,” Cuomo said. These were his exact words and we are not paraphrasing.
Of course, there’s a counterargument to be made here. These states could have done a lot more to protect their most vulnerable populations. Things did not have to be this bad. ProPublica, which is the furthest thing from a conservative outlet, reported on this issue back in June. According to their reports, COVID-19 killed 6% of New York’s nursing home residents, 5% of Michigan’s and 12% of New Jersey’s.
The orders that were issued by these states led to some very grim outcomes, there is no denying it. Unless you’re Andrew Cuomo, in which case this is all someone else’s fault and there’s nothing that could have been done. The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division is now evaluating their options. The civil rights of nursing home residents are protected under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act.
The Civil Rights Division will be responsible for determining whether the orders that were issued by these careless governor are directly responsible for the wave of death that has taken place. Will the Cuomo supporters be able to admit that he did not make the right decision or are they going to continue to defend him?
It’s getting harder and harder to pretend that he had the right idea. This man has the audacity to write a book in the midst of this crisis, patting himself on the book for the great job he’s done. The Democratic National Convention even gave him a platform to brag about his job performance. He’s deluded and so are they.
The praise that Cuomo is getting stands in stark contrast to the constant complaining about Trump. If you reversed the parties, the conversation would be totally different. Perhaps the Department of Justice can provide the sort of insight that has been sorely lacking throughout this entire snafu? We look forward to hearing more about their findings and hope that justice is served soon.
