Family members of nursing home victims condemn N.Y. Gov. Cuomo

FILE – In this Saturday, Jan. 23, 2021 file photo, Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks to reporters during a news conference at a COVID-19 pop-up vaccination site in the William Reid Apartments in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, Pool)

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 8:06 AM PT – Tuesday, February 16, 2021

New Yorkers who lost elderly family members to the coronavirus pandemic have said it’s “too late” for an apology from Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

On Monday, the New York Post interviewed a number of state residents following revelations the Governor’s Office allegedly hid the real data on nursing home deaths from public view.

This followed Cuomo’s controversial order last year mandating nursing homes to admit people who had tested positive for the virus, which led to a sharp rise in its spread within the facilities.

Some people like Donna Johnson, who lost both her mother and father to the virus, have described Cuomo as a “horrible person” for putting his public image ahead of the health of elderly New Yorkers.

FILE- In this April 17, 2020, file photo, a patient is wheeled into Cobble Hill Health Center by emergency medical workers, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. Under fire over his management of the coronavirus’ lethal path through New York’s nursing homes, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo insisted Monday, Feb.15, 2021 that officials should have moved faster to release some information sought by lawmakers, the public and the press. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

“How he could continue to go on TV every day and just blatantly lie? Now that we know these were lies, I can say this,” she stated. “I think the man is a murderer…I think the man is more like a serial killer…15,000 people and it’s growing even today because seniors are dying in isolation.”

Johnson also added, she hopes justice will ultimately be served and it’s “too late” for Cuomo to apologize for his mishandling of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the Democrat governor recently addressed the controversy surrounding nursing home deaths in New York, but failed to apologize.

“We should’ve provided more information faster, we were too focused on doing the job and addressing the crisis of the moment,” he stated. “And we did not do a good enough job in providing information — I take total responsibility for that.”

The coronavirus-related death toll from New York nursing homes and long term care facilities has exceeded 15,000 people, while the state reported only 8,500 deaths last month. Additionally, the data does not even include those who passed in hospitals rather than the facility they caught the virus in.

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