Former state Health Commissioner Howard Zucker will be brought before Congress next week to answer questions about the state’s poor response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Zucker will sit down Monday for a closed-door, transcribed interview with members of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic.
As former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s health czar, Zucker was responsible for the March 2020 order that forced Empire State nursing homes to accept coronavirus-positive residents returning from hospitals.
Zucker also prohibited nursing homes from testing returning residents for the virus.
The virus is particularly deadly for the elderly, and the order has the potential to cause 1,000 additional deaths in nursing homes, according to an analysis from The Empire Center, a conservative think tank.
Former New York Health Czar Howard Zucker will face questions from Congress next week Hans Pennink
“Howard Zucker had a role in crafting that policy for Governor Cuomo,” said Staten Island GOP Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, the only New Yorker on the committee. “We want to know what he knows in terms of what it leads to [order] and why — when they have alternative options like the US Navy ship Comfort and the South Beach Psychiatric Center on Staten Island — they continue to mandate these nursing homes to take in COVID patients.
“I want to know what the difference is in reimbursement for individuals admitted to a hospital versus a nursing home,” Malliotakis continued. “Does the financial decision play a role?”
Zucker faced no real consequences for the bad decision and in January he was appointed deputy director for global health at the Centers for Disease Control by the Biden administration.
The coronavirus is devastating to the elderly. AP Howard Zucker is responsible for state orders that send covid patients to nursing homes Annie Wermiel/NY Post
“If Dr. Zucker finally wants to tell the truth about his involvement in this reckless mandate, then we welcome his appearance, but unfortunately he has never been transparent or honest in the past so this may be a waste of time,” said Fox meteorologist Janice Dean News and advocates for victims of COVID. “I pray his conscience has gotten the better of him and he is ready to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Our family deserves it.”
Zucker declined to comment.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
