12 March 2020: Families Locked Out of New York Nursing Homes

During Novel Coronavirus Briefing, Governor Cuomo Announces New Mass Gatherings Regulations

At the time Governor Cuomo's office released this transcript, New York City had nearly reached the numbers that Mayor Bill de Blasio predicted just three days earlier and was set to blast through it. The faster than previously projected growth in the number of COVID-19 infections drove a change in public policy, as Governor Cuomo banned all public events with more than 500 people in attendance and required gatherings with fewer than 500 people to cut capacity by 50%.

Cuomo ends visitation at nursing homes to fight coronavirus

Governor Cuomo expanded his actions to protect nursing home patients to cover the entire state of New York. Note his statement:

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Thursday suspended all visits to nursing homes as the spread of the coronavirus worsens statewide.

“This means no visitors in a nursing home,” Cuomo said. “If you care for someone in a nursing home, the last thing you want to do is endanger them.”...

“That is the most vulnerable population,” Cuomo said earlier this week. “It is the most dangerous situation faced by the virus … that’s my nightmare. You are going to see pain and damage from this in nursing homes.”

Indeed, that risk was also communicated in the official directive New York's Department of Health issued to nursing homes the next day. And the very last thing you would want to do is purposefully introduce the coronavirus infection into a nursing home. And yet, less than two weeks later....