Daughter of NY nursing home COVID-19 victim: Cuomo sentenced 'thousands' to death with policy
The daughter of a man who died after contracting COVID-19 in a New York nursing home is calling for an independent investigation into Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s policy requiring nursing homes to accept coronavirus-positive patients.
“With the stroke of Gov. Cuomo’s pen, he sentenced thousands of people like my father to death, and he sentenced us, the families, to a lifetime of heartache, anguish and pain,” Tracey Alvino said on “Mornings with Maria” on Monday. “He needs to answer for what he’s done, so we need an independent investigation.”
Alvino said her father, who was otherwise healthy, contracted COVID-19 during a stay at a rehabilitation facility following a neck surgery.
“He told us that he heard ambulances coming and going,” Alvino said. “He heard coughing. He heard a lot of chaos and commotion.”
“And he literally told us, ‘If you don’t get me out of here I am going to die,’” she said.
Cuomo’s directive, signed into law on March 25 and rescinded in May, required nursing homes to accept coronavirus-positive patients released from hospitals. Alvino told Jackie DeAngelis the order “makes absolutely no sense” to her.
“I don’t know what they were thinking,” Alvino said. “We knew from the beginning that this [coronavirus] was most deadly to the elderly. So why would you put a disease that’s most deadly to the elderly in with them? It makes absolutely no sense at all.”
Alvino is the assistant director of VoicesForSeniors, an organization that aims to “significantly improve the quality of life for our most vulnerable, elderly communities through grassroots initiatives and advocacy for protective legislation and reform,” according to its official website. She is also a schoolteacher in Babylon, N.Y.
Alvino argued the Cuomo administration has shown “continual disrespect” to the families of coronavirus victims who died in nursing homes.
“The only thing that’s been worse than losing my father has been the continual disrespect that the Cuomo administration has shown us families,” Alvino said.
“Who cares how they died?" she added. "We care how they died.”
Alvino said her father, who was otherwise healthy, contracted COVID-19 during a stay at a rehabilitation facility following a neck surgery.
“He told us that he heard ambulances coming and going,” Alvino said. “He heard coughing. He heard a lot of chaos and commotion.”
“And he literally told us, ‘If you don’t get me out of here I am going to die,’” she said.
Cuomo’s directive, signed into law on March 25 and rescinded in May, required nursing homes to accept coronavirus-positive patients released from hospitals. Alvino told Jackie DeAngelis the order “makes absolutely no sense” to her.
“I don’t know what they were thinking,” Alvino said. “We knew from the beginning that this [coronavirus] was most deadly to the elderly. So why would you put a disease that’s most deadly to the elderly in with them? It makes absolutely no sense at all.”
Alvino is the assistant director of VoicesForSeniors, an organization that aims to “significantly improve the quality of life for our most vulnerable, elderly communities through grassroots initiatives and advocacy for protective legislation and reform,” according to its official website. She is also a schoolteacher in Babylon, N.Y.
Alvino argued the Cuomo administration has shown “continual disrespect” to the families of coronavirus victims who died in nursing homes.
“The only thing that’s been worse than losing my father has been the continual disrespect that the Cuomo administration has shown us families,” Alvino said.
“Who cares how they died?" she added. "We care how they died.”
