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A New York family who lost a loved one to COVID-19 in a nursing home released the following statement condemning New York Governor Andrew Cuomo for recent statements he made that have offended many.
In response to Governor Cuomo’s recent comments regarding his fatal March 2020 nursing home directive, Daniel and Peter Arbeeny released the following statement. The Arbeeny family, who lost their beloved father Norman due to the nursing home directive, held a mock funeral last October at which grieving families demanded an apology from the Governor.
“Governor Cuomo’s stunning admission that he does not trust health experts is exactly why we have at least 13,000 nursing home COVID-19 deaths. Health experts and common sense would have prevented the Governor’s fatal March 2020 nursing home directive sending positive covid patients into nursing homes.
“‘Who cares?!’ We care, Governor! We, the Cuomo COVID Orphans are still waiting for an apology. The families of the thousands of nursing home patients who perished from the virus have asked the Governor to acknowledge his error and offer an apology. But he has bitterly refused, castigating his critics as politically motivated, or liars, when we’re simply grieving family members (and, in many cases, his own voters). Well, now we all know who the liar is. Our family has set out on a mission to expose how Governor Cuomo has turned his back on his own constituency in an effort to whitewash his bungled response to the pandemic. We will not let up until there is accountability from our elected leaders.
“We needed humility and empathy from our leaders and got deflection. We needed to hear an honest acknowledgment of personal responsibility and got deflection. We needed Governor Cuomo to own up to his unconscionable policies without scapegoating others. Our families need a sincere apology to allow us all to heal. Without it, Governor Cuomo insults every family affected by COVID-19.”
