Congresswoman Tenney Calls on Hochul to Ensure State’s COVID Investigation is Transparent and Independent

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-22), lead sponsor of the Essential Caregivers Act in Congress, today sent a letter to New York Governor Kathy Hochul urging her to ensure New York State’s independent inquiry into the COVID-19 response is open, fair, and truly transparent and that it addresses continued questions regarding the State’s response in nursing homes and long-term care facilities.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, New York State imposed knee-jerk and draconian measures, like severe economic lockdowns, statewide mask mandates, school closures, and vaccine mandates. Notably, disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo required nursing homes and long-term care facilities to accept COVID-19 positive patients in the early days of the pandemic, compromising the health and safety of this most vulnerable population.

Tenney’s letter calls on the independent inquiry to address the following questions, among several others:

• Why was the decision made to transfer COVID-positive seniors into long-term care facilities, especially given that seniors were always assessed as a high-risk population?
• How many deaths can be attributed to the decision by New York State’s Department of Health to return COVID-positive patients back into long-term care facilities?
• What was the impact of isolation on seniors and other vulnerable populations who were cut off from their essential caregivers while residing in long-term care facilities?

Last year, Tenney introduced H.R. 3733, the Essential Caregivers Act, which would establish a new federal standard guaranteeing the rights of long-term care patients to access essential caregivers, even in future public health emergencies. One of the greatest tragedies of the COVID-19 pandemic was the devastation caused by long-term isolation that occurred because of Governor Cuomo’s lockdown policies.

The full text of the letter is available here or below.

Dear Governor Hochul,

I write regarding your announcement of an independent inquiry into New York State’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Such an assessment is long-overdue, and I urge you to take all steps necessary to ensure this process is comprehensive and truly independent. Further, all state offices and agencies as well as their leaders must cooperate fully and transparently.

New York State imposed some of the most knee-jerk and draconian measures in response to COVID-19 like severe economic lockdowns, statewide mask mandates, school closures, and forced vaccine mandates. As more data continues to emerge, the impact of these steps has rightly come under scrutiny. We must fully understand the impact of these decisions on the lives and livelihoods of New Yorkers, especially the youngest who suffered tremendously out of school.

Among the most critical issues to examine are the decisions of disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo, which forced long-term care facilities to accept COVID-19 positive patients and deliberately concealed the COVID-19 death rates in these facilities. The families who lost loved due to these policies continue to suffer without closure or justice. Furthermore, decisions made by New York State to lock essential caregivers out of long-term care facilities cut seniors off from their loved ones, leading to a failure to thrive for thousands of seniors. Because of New York’s policies, I introduced H.R. 3733, the bipartisan Essential Caregivers Act. This bill will establish a new federal standard guaranteeing the rights of long-term care patients to access essential caregivers, even in future public health emergencies.

As the inquiry begins, I urge you to address the questions below:

• Why was the decision made to transfer COVID-positive seniors into long-term care facilities, especially given that seniors were always assessed as a high-risk population?
• How many deaths can be attributed to the decision by New York State’s Department of Health to return COVID-positive patients back into long-term care facilities?
• What was the impact of isolation on seniors and other vulnerable populations who were cut off from their essential caregivers while residing in long-term care facilities?
• What improvements should be made to New York’s Essential Caregivers law to ensure residents maintain access to the caregivers during any future pandemic?
• What reforms should be made to the New York State Department of Health’s data collection procedures to ensure they are independent from political influence?
• What was the assessed risk from COVID-19 to children throughout the pandemic, especially compared to other populations?
• How did school closures and mask mandates impact the development and mental health of children and were these impacts commensurate with the assessed risk to children?
• To what extent did the vaccine mandate on nurses and medical professionals reduce staffing in medical facilities and impact access to healthcare services for New Yorkers?
• To what extent did hospital closures and staff shortages reduce access to preventive care and how did this lack of access impact non-COVID mortality rates in New York?
• What were the mental health and substance abuse outcomes of New York’s lockdowns and were these impacts commensurate with the risks New Yorkers faced from COVID, particularly for children and young adults?
• What impact did New York’s pandemic-related restrictions and policies have on small business and were these impacts commensurate with the actual risks New Yorkers faced?

This inquiry is an opportunity for New York’s state government to earn back the trust of the people, learn from its mistakes, and restore transparency. I look forward to this independent inquiry addressing these and many other questions New Yorkers have. Only through a truly transparent process can we understand the actual impacts of pandemic policies and reassure New Yorkers that their government will learn from them and not repeat mistakes from the past.

Sincerely,

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