Cuomo defends COVID-19 nursing home decisions in combative House committee hearing

Associated Press

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo faced blistering criticism over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic at a time when the virus spreading through nursing homes during often combative congressional subcommittee testimony. Republican members who questioned the Democrat zeroed in on a controversial directive his administration issued in March of 2020 that initially barred nursing homes from refusing to accept patients just because they’d had COVID-19. U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York called the directive “deadly.” In over two hours of testimony, Cuomo defended his actions and blamed the former Trump administration for failing to provide enough testing and personal protective equipment in the early days of the pandemic.