Facts First: Gov. Cuomo falsely claims New York nursing homes ‘never needed’ to take in Covid-positive patients

Throughout a press name Wednesday, Finger Lakes Information Radio requested Cuomo about his administration’s advisory in late March requiring that nursing houses settle for the readmission of sufferers from hospitals, even when they had been constructive for Covid-19.

The governor’s workplace has repeatedly mentioned the advisory was primarily based on federal steering, which prohibited discrimination primarily based on a coronavirus analysis. The state’s Division of Well being instructed CNN, “Residents had been admitted to nursing houses throughout that point not as an overflow facility, however as a result of that is the place they dwell.”

Cuomo mentioned that the advisory was a precaution if hospitals turned overwhelmed — calling it an “anticipatory rule” — which he mentioned did not occur.

“We by no means wanted nursing dwelling beds as a result of we all the time had hospital beds,” Cuomo instructed Finger Lakes Information. “So it simply by no means occurred in New York the place we would have liked to say to a nursing dwelling, ‘We want you to take this particular person despite the fact that they’re Covid-positive.’ It by no means occurred.”

Info First: Cuomo’s assertion that “it by no means occurred” is fake. In line with a report from the New York State Division of Well being, “6,326 COVID-positive residents had been admitted to [nursing home] amenities” following Cuomo’s mandate that nursing houses settle for the readmission of Covid-positive sufferers from hospitals. Whether or not or not this was “wanted,” it did actually occur.

Cuomo’s senior adviser Wealthy Azzopardi replied Thursday after publication and took subject with this willpower, saying that the governor was particularly referencing the hospital mattress scarcity. “The governor was crystal clear, he was saying that what didn’t materialize was the crunch for hospital beds, that each projection particularly the federal governments projections predicted was going to occur. That is what he mentioned by no means occurred. Individually the regulation has all the time been that nursing houses may solely settle for residents that they may adequately take care of. None of that has modified.”

On March 25, the state’s Well being Division issued an advisory requiring nursing houses to simply accept “the expedited receipt of residents coming back from hospitals” if the sufferers had been deemed medically secure.

“No resident shall be denied re-admission or admission to the [nursing home] solely primarily based on a confirmed or suspected analysis of COVID-19,” the advisory acknowledged. “[Nursing homes] are prohibited from requiring a hospitalized resident who is set medically secure to be examined for COVID-19 previous to admission or readmission.”

This mandate acquired a substantial amount of criticism, and Cuomo issued an executive order altering the advisory on Might 10 by requiring hospitals to make sure sufferers examined unfavourable earlier than discharging them to nursing houses.

On Might 21 The Related Press reported, “Greater than 4,500 recovering coronavirus sufferers had been despatched to New York’s already weak nursing houses” below the state’s advisory.

In July, the state’s Well being Division launched a report that discovered “roughly 6,326 COVID-positive residents had been admitted to amenities between March 25, 2020 and Might 8, 2020.”

There was quite a lot of debate round how and if this advisory contributed to the numerous coronavirus demise toll seen all through New York nursing houses. The state Well being Division’s July report argued that the advisory “couldn’t be a driver of nursing dwelling infections or fatalities,” although many consultants disagree, noting that the report’s conclusion is predicated on the timing of circumstances and mortality, not, because the report acknowledges, on contact tracing of sufferers, workers or relations.

CORRECTION: This headline has been up to date to appropriate an earlier model that mischaracterized Gov. Cuomo’s feedback about New York nursing houses taking in Covid-positive sufferers. The story has been up to date to incorporate remark from the governor’s workplace.

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