NEW YORK – Mayor Bill de Blasio called for a “full account of what happened” after the revelation that Governor Andrew Cuomo’s government delayed the release of data on Covid-19-related deaths in nursing homes.
Key context: Top Cuomo assistant Melissa DeRosa told Democratic state lawmakers Wednesday at a meeting the administration “froze” when asked to share the data on the number of nursing home residents who died from Covid-19, the New York Post reported.
Critics have blamed the high death rates on orders from the Cuomo government in March, which ordered nursing homes to take in patients who tested positive for Covid-19.
De Blasio, a frequent critic of both the Governor and the New York Post, called it a “really disturbing report” adding that it is “deeply disturbing.”
“We need to know more,” de Blasio said on WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer show Friday morning. ‘We now need a full account of what happened. Think seniors … their lives were at stake and their families were desperate for the help they needed. We need to know exactly what happened here. We must ensure that nothing like this ever happens again. “
Consequence: DeRosa said the government has refrained from releasing the data because of former President Donald Trump’s attempts to turn the tragedy into “a giant political football,” the Post said.
In a statement released early Friday morning, she said that when the administration received the Justice Department’s investigation, they should “temporarily set aside the legislature’s request to consider the federal request first.” She also said the governor’s office had “informed the houses of this at the time” and insisted that Cuomo officials were “comprehensive and transparent in our responses to the DOJ.”
What’s next: Top Republicans have called on Cuomo resign or be impeachedDemocratic State Senator Alessandra Biaggi and 13 other lawmakers said the governor’s emergency powers made sense during the early stages of the pandemic, but had to be curbed in light of the report.
“It is clear that the extensive emergency powers granted to the governor are no longer appropriate,” the lawmakers wrote in a statement.
Democrats have become increasingly critical of Cuomo, also a Democrat, after a recent report by Attorney General Tish James said his government had undercounted the death toll. In that report, James said the official number of about 8,500 deviates by as much as 50 percent.