20 April 2020: Governor Cuomo Plays Dumb

Cuomo didn’t know coronavirus patients are being sent back to nursing homes

This is the first report where New York's media began actively challenging Governor Cuomo's and his administration on the actions they were taking during the epidemic in the state.

New York’s health commissioner on Monday defended a directive that requires nursing homes to readmit residents who’ve tested positive for the coronavirus — as Gov. Andrew Cuomo revealed he didn’t know the policy was in place.

Cuomo was asked about the state’s policy on admitting or readmitting to nursing homes people who’d tested positive for COVID-19.

“That’s a good question, I don’t know,” the governor said.

Cuomo’s startling admission came days after the state revealed last week that at least 3,316 people in nursing homes and adult care facilities had died of coronavirus at their residences or in hospitals across the state.

Based on the timeline of events and news reporting, our view is that Governor Cuomo's claim is almost certainly false. We also think it is highly unlikely that New York's public health officials would implement such an obviously high risk policy that so contradicted their previous policy and statements made by the governor on their own without the governor's tacit, if not explicit, approval.