Compare Florida nursing homes to what happened in NY after Cuomo forced them to take infected patients.....
Originally Posted by Paulie Rockstar
NY Post
May 5, 2020
New York’s coronavirus nursing home death toll didn’t have to be so high. Nursing homes, like the King David Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Brooklyn, were hit hard with COVID-19 deaths during the outbreak.
It’s long been clear the official numbers didn’t capture the coronavirus’ full toll in New York’s nursing homes — but the updated count was nonetheless appalling. Yet Gov. Andrew Cuomo still won’t admit his administration was wrong to mandate that facilities filled with those most virus-vulnerable take in COVID-positive patients.
The new Health Department info released late Monday adds 1,700 presumed coronavirus deaths to the grim total, suggesting that COVID-19 complications have killed 4,813 residents of nursing homes and adult-care facilities — and that doesn’t include those who died in hospitals.
Cuomo downplayed the count Tuesday: “I would take all of these numbers now with a grain of salt,” since “what does a ‘presumed death’ mean, right?”
Considering how pessimistic Cuomo has been in other areas, such doubt seems self-serving. We know fatality rates are far higher than normal — and the coronavirus has proven most deadly to the elderly and those with certain preexisting conditions. Indeed, Cuomo admitted Tuesday, “We knew the nursing homes were going to be a target.”
So why on earth did his health commissioner, Howard Zucker, force nursing homes to take in virus-positive patients starting March 25?
States that have taken better precautions have seen far fewer nursing-home deaths. With a nursing-home population of about 70 percent of New York’s, Florida has seen about 10 percent as many nursing-home deaths — albeit with far fewer COVID-19 deaths overall. Florida opted for a less-stringent lockdown than New York — but Gov. Ron DeSantis focused attention on nursing homes from the start, and has strengthened those protections as the state begins to reopen.
No Sunshine State patient can be discharged from a hospital into a nursing home without a negative test result. Florida hospitals had already refused to send coronavirus-positive patients back; the new rule means even those who show no symptoms must be tested and confirmed negative.
A defensive Cuomo on Tuesday claimed the state had done “everything you can” to keep the coronavirus from spreading among New York’s seniors. But that’s just not true. And as the toll continues to rise, the gov still won’t reverse course and protect those most vulnerable to the pandemic.