Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to testify before House panel on pandemic response
CNN
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is set to testify publicly before a GOP-led House panel on Tuesday where he is expected to face questions over his handling of the pandemic during his time in office and Covid-era nursing home policy in the state.
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is set to testify publicly before a GOP-led House panel on Tuesday where he is expected to face questions over his handling of the pandemic during his time in office and Covid-era nursing home policy in the state. The public hearing will offer a high-profile opportunity for Republicans to grill the former governor after he testified in June behind closed doors before members of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. Cuomo, a Democrat, has been out of office for several years, and it is unclear what new information may emerge from the testimony. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testified on the pandemic at a contentious public hearing before the same subcommittee in June. Cuomo was in the national spotlight early in the outbreak for his daily coronavirus briefings and passionate pleas for more medical equipment from the federal government, but later became a focus of controversy over deaths in nursing homes. The former governor has defended his handling of the pandemic, saying that the state followed federal guidelines. A spokesperson for Cuomo has confirmed that the former governor will testify. “The one question that needs to be answered is still being ignored: ‘Why did more people die from COVID in the United States than any other country and how do we make sure it never happens again?’ It is Governor Cuomo’s pleasure to join the committee once again to try to get an answer,” said Rich Azzopardi, Cuomo’s spokesperson. New York state’s handling of nursing homes and their residents during the pandemic has been a subject of scrutiny, particularly after the state health department issued a controversial advisory on March 25, 2020, relating to hospital discharges and nursing home admissions.
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