N.Y.'s $4.3 million COVID report is out. Here's what's in it.
And check out a new section of CapCon that's here for the first time today.
Good afternoon — it’s Friday, and Cucumber Day.
FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2024
TODAY’S CAPCON:
A long-anticipated report on how New York handled COVID-19 is out.
The report looks at decisions made early in the pandemic.
It also looks at decisions made regarding nursing homes and hospitals.
And a small look at the impact on education and businesses.
New Section: “Bills Passed But Pending” looks at measures passed by the Legislature awaiting a decision from the governor.
⛈️ Tonight’s Weather: Albany: Chance of storms, high 50s. New York City: Storms and rain, around 70. (National Weather Service)
😷 N.Y.’s $4.3 million COVID report has been released. What’s in it?
🖋️ The state contracted with The Olson Group for a review of what worked and what didn’t during the COVID-19 pandemic.
New York was flying by the seat of its pants in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic but former Gov. Andrew CUOMO’s micromanagement of the crisis presented its own challenges.
That’s according to a long-awaited report released Friday. It was ordered by Gov. Kathy HOCHUL two years ago.
The state offered $4.3 million to The Olson Group, an emergency management firm, to conduct the review.
About $1.9 million of that contract has been spent, according to the state comptroller’s office.
The big takeaway from the analysis is that the way Cuomo managed the state’s response — building it with his staff rather than health officials — had negative consequences.
It was sent to reporters in a weird way: The Olson Group emailed it to us directly.
Since then, neither Hochul nor the Department of Health have said anything.
But before I tell you what’s in the report, I want to highlight one paragraph that surprised me.
“The state’s efforts to prepare for COVID-19 actually began at least as early as the second week of 2020,” the report said.
That’s when senior officials at the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services were made aware of the virus, the report said.
The agency “immediately shared this information with their commissioner who in turn reached out to the Department of Health,” according to a senior official quoted in the report.
“The senior official went on to say, however, that the NYSDOH did not appear to have expressed any response to this information nor request any type of support for preparations,” the report said.
The agency began raising awareness of the disease, but the earliest dated action in the report was information sent to nursing homes on Feb. 7, 2020.
🔎 So, what else is in there? Here are some more of the highlights.
❤️🩹 Cuomo’s nursing home directive and data differences
Cuomo’s critics have been particularly outspoken about how he handled nursing homes during the pandemic.
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