"I just want to reiterate once again that the policy that the Department of Health put out was in line directly with the March 13 directive put out by (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) that read, and I quote, 'Nursing homes should admit any individuals from hospitals where Covid is present,'" said Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa on Saturday during a briefing. "Not could, should ... that is President (Donald) Trump's CMS and CDC.
"There are over a dozen states that did the exact same thing, many of whom were concerned about hospital capacity. ... Obviously any death is an unfortunate death," DeRosa said, listing the totals from other states amongst New York's. "It's been a national and international tragedy that everybody has had to grapple with and it is something that we're trying to learn from every day and move forward."
Cuomo, a Democrat, said later in the briefing that he was trying to depoliticize the issue by saying, "New York followed the President's agency's guidance, so that de-politicizes it. What New York did was follow what the Republican administration said to do.
"So don't criticize this state for following the President's policy."
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a memorandum on March 13stating, in part, "Nursing homes should admit any individuals that they would normally admit to their facility, including individuals from hospitals where a case of COVID-19 was/is present."
Caption this Meme