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Andrew Cuomo’s new book is out, a fictional tale in which he proclaims himself master of coronavirus and viral savior of New York. But that’s not even close to true. Let's just go through Cuomo’s actions in the most important month. March. 1/
March 1: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announces New York City’s first confirmed case of COVID-19. https://bit.ly/2SVQpvX 2/
March 2: Cuomo would spend this period strenuously arguing that New Yorkers were worrying too much. “In this situation, the facts defeat fear. Because the reality is reassuring. It is deep breath time.” https://bit.ly/3nORxzH 3/
March 3: Cuomo finally takes immediate action on the crisis… the “vaping crisis.” Holds rally at capitol, trends #NoVapeNY on Twitter https://bit.ly/2GXL98P 4/
March 4: Cuomo: "We have an epidemic caused by Coronavirus but we have a pandemic that is caused by fear.” https://bit.ly/3nXUfTV He gives a version of this line in almost every interview he does. 5/
March 5: Think of the criticism lobbed at the Trump administration about "downplaying" the virus. Cuomo does this over and over and over... “Here, the facts do not merit the level of anxiety that we are seeing.” https://bit.ly/2H0XLvP 6/
Remember all of that criticism of republicans who were comparing Covid to the flu? Cuomo did that too. March 6: Cuomo: “We have more people in this country dying from the flu than we have dying from coronavirus.” https://bit.ly/3jZBSvl 7/
March 7: After weeks of telling people not to worry so much, and comparing Covid to the flu, Cuomo signs E.O. declaring virus a disaster emergency in the state of New York. https://on.ny.gov/2SRPGfd If he knew he was doing this, why would he be downplaying the situation? 8/
March 8: As NY coronavirus cases hit triple digits, Cuomo again tries to convince New Yorkers not to worry: “This is not the Ebola virus, this is not the SARS virus, this is a virus we have a lot of information on…” https://bit.ly/3jZv7tr 9/
This might be Cuomo's best moment as he finally says something that is objectively true. COVID-19 is not SARS. For example, more people would die in New York from COVID *just on April 4th*, than SARS killed in the entire run of the virus worldwide. 10/
Also, more people also died in Cuomo's state from COVID than the entire SARS crisis worldwide on April 5th. And April 6th. And the 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, and 17th. To remind you, this person wrote a book about what a good job he did. 11/
March 8: Cuomo is still telling people to go on the subway with minor modifications: “If you can move to a train car that is not as dense. If you see a packed train car, let it go by, wait for the next train. Same if you’re taking a bus.” https://bit.ly/3iU1A2N 12/
March 9: The Cuomo downplay in effect again: “This is not the Ebola virus. This hysteria that you see, this fear that you see, the panic that you see is unwarranted. We have dealt with worse viruses.” https://bit.ly/3lM4Ijf 13/
It's true that COVID-19 is not the Ebola virus. In fact, COVID would go on to kill more people *just in NY* in *just the first two weeks of April* than Ebola has globally, in all of human history. 14/
March 9: In an unsettling episode of cringeworthy performance theater, Cuomo unveils a plan to force prison inmates to supposedly make hand sanitizer. Capitalism, not the virus, is the thinly veiled target. https://bit.ly/3jYCeST 15/
Did I mention this was cringeworthy? Cuomo describes the "floral scent" of his sanitizer ("lilacs, hydrangeas, tulips") and then sniffs his hands while health officials are telling everyone not to put their hands near their faces.
https://bit.ly/3iYNKML 16/
https://bit.ly/3iYNKML 16/
He then asks the person next to him to also smell his hands. During a pandemic. Gross. https://bit.ly/3iYNKML 17/
March 11: Cuomo laughs at what he sees as a reporters funny accent, and then imitates it. He cracks himself up, while earning the headline: "Check Out Andrew Cuomo’s Horrific Irish Accent" https://bit.ly/2SU5e29 18/
For 6 years, CNN had banned Chris Cuomo from interviewing his brother - for reasons obvious to anyone who has ever even heard of journalism. On March 11th, when serious examination of Andrew Cuomo's record was most important, they lifted the ban. https://nyti.ms/3jZ5J7d 19/
On March 12th, the day after the NBA pulled the plug on its season, Cuomo: “There’s not going to be any quarantine” and claims "individual mobility is what we're all about" while reassuring New Yorkers there won't be any "stay in your house rules." 20/
March 13: MSNBC: “How would you characterize where things stand right now in New York State...? Cuomo: “I don't think it's any different here than anywhere else. The anxiety and the fear is as much of a problem as the virus.” 21/
March 16: While President Trump announces “15 Days to Slow the Spread” and NY climbs to 950 cases and 7 deaths, Cuomo goes on The Today Show https://on.ny.gov/374rQ8m 22/
And GMA: https://gma.abc/33VL3qS
And New Day: https://on.ny.gov/379hGDw
And Morning Joe: https://bit.ly/3dyA9KX
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And New Day: https://on.ny.gov/379hGDw
And Morning Joe: https://bit.ly/3dyA9KX
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On March 17: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio: “Absolutely considering” a shelter-in-place order for New York City. https://bit.ly/3dpWFWc Cuomo says there will be no shelter-in-place order https://bit.ly/3kbtqZK
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March 18: Cuomo: “...that is not going to happen, shelter in place, for New York City.” Says AGAIN that fear is worse than the virus, and that he "shut that down, immediately" when talking about a shelter in place. 25/
March 19: The very next day Cuomo orders businesses to reduce in-office personnel by 75%. https://on.ny.gov/33WFNDl 26/
March 19: Cuomo: “Are we reducing density? Yes. Do we want people to stay home? Yes. Are we going to do quarantine, are people imprisoned in their homes? No.” 27/
FYI, fear was still worse than the virus on March 19: “we are fighting a war on two fronts. We are fighting the virus and we are fighting fear. And they are two totally different situations that you have to deal with. In many ways, the fear is more dangerous than the virus.” 28/
Also on March 19, a shut down was still not happening. “I said where did you hear that? "Well, that's what they say. That is what I am hearing." And I was saying I would know, right? Because I would have to authorize those actions legally. It is not going to happen.” 29/
Literally the next day Cuomo shut down New York. One day after promising is was not going to happen. “So we're going to put out an Executive Order today. New York State on pause.” 30/
The shut down came just three days after publicly slamming Deblasio for even suggesting it. It is really, really hard to come out on the wrong side of a conflict with Bill Deblasio. Everyone hates him. But, Cuomo pulled it off multiple times during the crisis. 31/
The shutdown also came four days after @realDonaldTrump announced 15 Days to Slow the Spread. Cuomo regularly criticizes the President for acting too slow. He was slower. 32/
March 20: Cuomo announces Matilda’s Law, named after his mother. “Who are we worried about? Seniors, compromised immune system, people with underlying illnesses. Where are the places we're really worried about? Nursing homes, senior congregate facilities.” 33/
With the situation spiraling out of control and Cuomo begging the National Guard for help as cases pass 20,000 (known), U.S. News publishes article, “How Coronavirus Made Andrew Cuomo America’s Governor”. https://bit.ly/3nTQej5 ????? 34/
March 24: Why did Cuomo’s initial health strategy fail? Let him tell you in his own words: https://bit.ly/3lO5fRz 35/
March 24: Andrew is able to find time for some soul-searching with “journalist” brother, Chris. This is really funny because two brothers are laughing about stuff on a news network during a pandemic. Hard hitting journalism. 36/
March 25: VICE exposes that the whole hand sanitizer stunt was a lie. Prison workers were not actually making hand sanitizer at all. https://bit.ly/3dsw1w5 37/
March 25: Perhaps the worst single decision by any government entity in the entire pandemic response. Cuomo releases the now-infamous “Advisory: Hospital Discharges and Admissions to Nursing Homes” for New York. https://bit.ly/2T3Amw5 38/
The advisory required nursing homes to *import* COVID-19 positive patients. “No resident shall be denied re-admission or admission to the (Nursing Home) solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19." 39/
It also prohibited nursing homes for even TESTING for the virus for new or returning patients. 40/
We will never know for sure how many lives this decision was ultimately responsible for ending. But, we do know that to this day, Cuomo continues to lie about how many people died in nursing homes, by not counting nursing home residents who die at the hospital. Awful. 41/
Cuomo, on the same day as the nursing home order:“These are people we love. These are our grandparents. And we're going to do everything we can to protect every one of them. And I give the people of the state of New York my word that we're doing it." https://bit.ly/2H834JP 42/
March 26: Things are going so poorly in New York, Rhode Island closes its borders to New Yorkers, citing it as a “hotspot”. https://bit.ly/340PXD5 Cuomo complains that this isn't "neighborly." He would later institute similar restrictions on southern states. 43/
Cuomo knew the risks of his policy with nursing home residents. How do we know this? Because the nursing homes told him. On March 29, the Society for Post-Acute & Long-Term Care Medicine released statement on Cuomo's nursing home advisory. https://bit.ly/3lOiMbP 44/
As they clearly and emphatically noted “...caring for COVID-19 (+) residents (is) unsafe and jeopardizes all patients in the nursing home.” 45/
“Nursing home capability to provide high-quality infection control may be limited due to situational factors...such as competencies of remaining available staff; (And) loss of physicians... due to illness, quarantine, or surge needs at other institutions.” 46/
“Many homes do not have private rooms.” 47/
"...a new admission to a nursing home from a hospital
can impact the health of all the other residents with dire, and indeed fatal, consequences." Cuomo did it anyway. 48/
can impact the health of all the other residents with dire, and indeed fatal, consequences." Cuomo did it anyway. 48/
While this list is incomplete, it is more than enough. Cuomo oversaw the single worst coronavirus response in the world. The worst. And today, he is celebrating himself in a book and engaging in a press tour. It is disgusting. 49/
It's also important to remember how many real people had their lives destroyed by all of this. It's quite possible Cuomo would be getting away with this if not for the efforts of people like @JaniceDean. I hope the media will someday hold Cuomo accountable. 50/
Here are links to some of the timeline shows if you'd rather youtube.
The Cuomo Timeline Part 1
The Cuomo Timeline Part 2
The Cuomo Timeline Part 3
http://AndrewCuomoIsAwful.com
The Cuomo Timeline Part 1
The Cuomo Timeline Part 2
The Cuomo Timeline Part 3
http://AndrewCuomoIsAwful.com
