6:13 p.m. ET, August 19, 2020
Fact Check: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the coronavirus
From CNN's Daniel Dale
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo boasted Monday of his state's efforts to fight the coronavirus, contrasting his government's approach with how the federal government has handled the pandemic.
Cuomo said that "as they proved their way failed, we proved that our way succeeded." He added, "And for all the pain and all the tears, our way worked. And it was beautiful."
Facts First:
New York does currently have low levels of coronavirus infection, hospitalization and death compared with other big US cities. However, it is highly debatable whether Cuomo's overall handling of the pandemic has been a success. He did not mention some important facts and statistics.
Though New York has dramatically flattened its coronavirus curve since its
April peak, that initial peak was severe. As of Wednesday, New York still had had
more than twice as many total coronavirus deaths as any other US state — more than 32,800, according to Johns Hopkins University data — and was second-highest, behind New Jersey, in deaths per 100,000 people, with 169.
While some of New York's crisis was undoubtedly
caused by bad fortune — as an international travel hub, New York City got hit with the virus before some other major US cities — Cuomo's approach likely contributed not only to the current successes but also to the initial failures.
Cuomo was initially reluctant to order state residents to stay at home; he issued a stay-at-home order on March 20 (it went into effect on March 22) — four days after a group of California counties issued similar
orders and a day after California's governor, Gavin Newsom,
issued such an order for the state. California
had fewer confirmed cases than New York at the time.
Cuomo's early communication about the virus has also been called into question. He
said on March 19: "I'm as afraid of the fear and the panic as I am of the virus, and I think that the fear is more contagious than the virus right now. You take a place like New York City, we are at near panic levels, so what you say and how you communicate is very important. Should everybody stay home? Of course. Are we imprisoning people? No. Can you stay inside 24 hours a day? No."
Seeking to free up hospital beds, Cuomo's administration also issued a controversial March 25
directive prohibiting nursing homes from denying new or returning residents with the coronavirus. More than 6,400 New York nursing home residents have died from the virus. (The extent to which the March 25 order contributed to the death toll is not clear.)