Billy Long: President Trump working to save nursing home residents from COVID-19 as they keep dying in states run by Democrats

(From Seventh District Congressman Billy Long)

From the beginning, medical experts have stressed that we take special care to protect medically vulnerable populations from the coronavirus, especially the elderly. 

While many Democrat leaders were eager to criticize the Trump Administration’s response to the coronavirus, many were completely unwilling to acknowledge that most of the real failure happened in Democrat-controlled states. 

Under Gov. Andrew Cuomo, one of President Trump’s most outspoken critics during this pandemic, New York alone has seen over 6,000 COVID-19 deaths in state-regulated nursing homes— that’s 500% more nursing home deaths per capita than Florida. Many of these deaths are the result of local failures and gross negligence, and we must hold leaders like Gov. Cuomo accountable. 

In early March, the Trump Administration issued guidance to states to avoid discharging coronavirus-positive patients back into nursing homes. 

Yet for some reason, Gov. Cuomo instead issued “Must Admit” orders that forced nursing homes to receive COVID-positive patients despite strong warnings from the medical community that such policies were unsafe and would put lives at risk. Countless medical professionals publicly railed against Cuomo’s policy, challenging the governor to change his mind; unfortunately, their warnings fell on deaf ears. The result: nursing home residents make up over 40% of all coronavirus-related deaths nationwide, despite being barely 0.5% of the population.

When his decision proved deadly, Governor Cuomo employed an old strategy: blame President Trump. 

After his claims that the Trump Administration was at fault and that the state merely followed orders were quickly disproven by independent fact checkers, Governor Cuomo skirted responsibility claiming it was up to the individual nursing homes to refuse his policy. 

His final attempt in the blame campaign came from a report he issued claiming the frontline workers within these facilities, not his decision, were responsible for the drastic increase in nursing home fatalities. 

Governor Cuomo’s brazen attempt to shift blame onto the men and women who have selflessly cared for our most vulnerable populations during this unprecedented crisis is disgusting and despicable, demonstrating a total lack of personal responsibility.

Though perhaps the most egregious, Governor Cuomo’s horrible decision making is not an isolated event as other Democratic-led states have also witnessed high numbers of COVID-related nursing home fatalities. 

In New Jersey, over half of the 9,000+ deaths reported in May alone were long-term care patients and staff. 

In June, local media outlets reported that one of every three deaths linked to the coronavirus in Michigan was a nursing home patient; California and Pennsylvania have witnessed similar high COVID-19 death rates. 

This concerning trend among Democrat-controlled states has prompted Rep. Steve Scalise, ranking member on the House’s Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus, to send letters to the Democratic governors of New York, New Jersey, Michigan, California, and Pennsylvania demanding detailed information to clear up questions surrounding their murky COVID-19 nursing home policies.

These “Must Admit” state orders likely contributed to the deaths of thousands of elderly nursing home residents in their respective states, and the families of the deceased deserve answers on why these governors issued them. 

What’s more, millions of Americans across the nation with loved ones in these facilities need assurances that state-level leadership will make responsible decisions regarding the personal safety of nursing home residents and staff going forward.

I share my colleagues’ deep concerns regarding these reckless decisions, and I believe these deeply misguided policies deserve close scrutiny. While Democrats are eager to continue falsely blaming President Trump for a global pandemic, they are either unwilling to acknowledge or are willfully ignorant of the gross negligence executed across the country within their own ranks. These governors have tough questions to answer, and I will work with my Republican colleagues to ensure that the public hears those answers.