Independent report criticizes Cuomo’s ‘top-down’ management of New York’s COVID-19 response

NEW YORK — A study of New York’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic found that former Governor Andrew Cuomo’s “top-down” approach of dictating public health policy through his office rather than coordinating with state and local authorities, caused confusion during the crisis.

In the state’s nursing homes, where about 15,000 people diedAccording to the independent investigation, the government’s lack of communication with agencies and facilities resulted in wasted resources and distrust – not to mention fear for residents’ loved ones. at the behest of current Governor Kathy Hochul in 2022 and released Friday.

However, research by a consultancy found that while policies on how nursing homes should deal with COVID-19 were “rushed and uncoordinated”, they were based on the best understanding of science at the time. The Olson Group report, which praised the state’s rapid and comprehensive vaccination program at the facilities, said death rates there were ultimately consistent with those in the rest of the country.

The Cuomo administration came under heavy criticism for a policy that initially required nursing homes to readmit recovering COVID-19 patients in an effort to prevent hospitals from becoming overwhelmed. That was on top of it report mortality rates that significantly underestimated deaths. Earlier this week, Cuomo, a Democrat, was called to testify about the issues before a closed-door meeting GOP-led Congressional subcommittee that examines the country’s response to the pandemic.

In a statement in response to the new report, Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi defended the former governor’s approach.

“While this report cuts through the political clutter that has engulfed the nursing home issue and points out how conditions have been consistent nationwide, it is ludicrous to suggest that this pandemic response should be treated in the same way as outbreaks of H1N1 or Legionnaires’ disease,” the statement said .

“We’ve all been through this and no rational person can believe that a coordinated, centralized response is inferior to letting a group of faceless bureaucrats make decisions,” Azzopardi said.

According to the report, the state’s existing emergency plans and policies, based on experiences with events like Hurricane Sandy, were immediately ignored by Cuomo’s preferred “centralized approach to emergency management.”

According to the report, the approach had some unexpected consequences outside the healthcare sector. For example, after learning that supermarkets were running low on milk, the state ordered 300 semi-trailer loads of raw milk diverted from dairy manufacturers and sent to bottling plants – which led to too much milk, which was then had to be removed. be dumped.

“Governor Cuomo’s decision to focus the state’s response on the executive chamber and, more specifically, on his office, was a significant and unnecessary mistake,” the report said. “While his decisive action was widely praised during the early stages of the pandemic, his inability to move to fully integrate the state’s established institutions in coordinating the ongoing response operation resulted in unnecessary confusion at a time when New Yorkers needed clarity.”

Cuomo resigned from office in August 2021, amid allegations of sexual harassment, which he denies. Hochul, a fellow Democrat who had been Cuomo’s lieutenant, inherited the job and was re-elected the following year.