There’s a truth the media and others wishing about Governor Cuomo didn’t want to hear: that his executive orders were one of the biggest reasons why so many of our parents and grandparents died of COVID in their aged care facilities.
We lost more seniors from COVID in nursing homes than 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina combined. That includes my husband’s parents, Mickey and Dee Newman. Why did this fact not cause outrage?
Now we finally know why, and that’s what we suspected for months: because this government has done everything it can to keep that information hidden through accusations, bullying, lying and covering up.
I have been personally attacked by the governor’s spokesmen, as have my family and the other brave people who dared to go against this government. I was told I had nothing credible about anything except the weather and that I was part of a death cult that didn’t stop haunting Cuomo or his office. I was warned to ‘be on the lookout’ and ‘to be careful’. He was too powerful, both revered and feared by those who covered him and worked for him.
Meanwhile, our grieving families kept watching the mainstream media go about him and never asked the questions we so desperately wanted to know: why did he write that executive order to bring infected patients to nursing homes, and why did he cover the total number of deceased seniors , including those who died in hospital?
We have never heard the answers. Instead, we watched him promote and celebrate himself, write his leadership book and win an Emmy Award.
It was annoying. Frustrating. Soul crushing. And in spite of all my accountability efforts, I began to believe that we might never see the day when this governor and his administration were called to account.
Until now. A 76-page report from the Attorney General’s office in New York that finally gave us reason to believe that the nightmare we went through was very real.
Our feelings of hurt, dismay, anger and betrayal by this leader and his Heath Department were justified. What we knew in our hearts was the truth.
In her report, James wrote:
“While we cannot bring back the individuals we lost through this crisis, this report seeks to provide transparency that the public deserves and to encourage more action to protect our most vulnerable residents.”
That’s the part that made me cry. Because we can’t get my husband’s parents back, but I believe they gave me the strength not to give up.
I called my husband and his sister and told them Mickey and Dee weren’t giving up. They helped us to keep going.
Because the ones we’ve lost are the ones we’re fighting for.
This report is a doorway, with a glimmer of light peeping through it. Maybe there is justice and their deaths have not been in vain.
I really hope we see a full investigation into the nursing home massacre here in New York. These deaths could have been prevented. Perhaps this is the beginning of protecting other families in the future.
But first we need the whole truth and nothing but the truth. From this governor, his health department, and anyone who helped cover it up. Because we deserve it. My husband’s parents deserve that.
Gov. Cuomo said in an interview this week on one of the channels that never asked him questions about the nursing home tragedy:
“Incompetent government kills people. More people died than it took to die in COVID. That is the truth.”
Turns out he was talking about himself.
Janice Dean is the senior meteorologist and anchor for Fox News.