‘America’s Governor:’ A look into the effectiveness of some of Cuomo’s COVID-19 policies
Governor Andrew Cuomo has soared in popularity for his pandemic response, but a lot of questionable measures have flown under the radar.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo ranked favorably for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in a recent national Quinnipiac poll: 59% of respondents found that the governor has responded to the crisis effectively. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, had 78% approval rating in the same poll.
This poll was conducted between April 2 and 6, one week after New York overtook all nations — besides the United States, of course — in confirmed coronavirus cases. The Empire State has had over 222,000 confirmed cases as of April 18, with over 14,000 total deaths. And this data tends to be undercounted due to the lack of testing.
Since the poll was conducted, the state saw eight straight days of the daily death toll rising above 700 — except for April 12, when the count measured in at 671. New York City added an additional 3,700 deaths to their count on April 14 following an account of those who weren’t properly treated or hospitalized. The state noted 752 deaths that day, but the daily count fell below 700 every other day through the weekend.
Still, statistics show that this could have been mitigated from the start — and that New York is not out of the woods yet. Here are some policies that might hurt New York health care, whether they were implemented too little, too late or plain not well.
Stay-at-home orders
By the time New York State had implemented stay-at-home orders, the state had accounted for roughly half of the cases in the United States. Cuomo implemented them on March 22, nearly three weeks after the state’s first case was confirmed: a 39-year-old woman in New York City. Dr. Tom Frieden, the former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under President Barack Obama, said that if the state had acted upon shelter-in-place orders a week earlier, the projected death tolls would be reduced by anywhere between 50 and 80%.
In comparable states and municipalities, when action was taken earlier and more aggressively, the spread of the virus was much more controlled. San Francisco and its surrounding counties implemented school closures on March 12 when the city had 18 confirmed cases, imposing stay-at-home orders five days later. New York City waited to close schools until the city had reported 329 cases on March 15. Overall, California saw their total deaths climb to over 1000 on April 17, with almost half of those fatalities coming from Los Angeles County.
Health care funding
Now, New York is operating with a shortage of hospital beds and ventilators. Emergency triage centers are being established in hot zones to account for this shortage, most notably in landmarks such as Central Park and the Javits Center. And there’s not much by way of money aiming to fix this issue.
A window into this? New York’s proposed budget for 2021 was due amid the outbreak — and it includes a $2.5 billion cut to the state’s Medicaid program after the pandemic passes. Included in these cuts are $400 million less in payouts to hospitals, more stringent long-term care requirements and a greater cost to county governments.
Right now, health care is cushioned by an additional $6.7 billion from the federal relief effort; in total, a projected $9 to 15 billion will be lost over the next year across the state’s sectors due to the pandemic.
Prisoners’ rights
Also included in the budget was the re-implementation of cash bail. Rikers Island — home to New York City’s largest jail complex — has seen an infection rate of 3.91% as of April 3, topping New York infection rates and placing it among the highest rates of any population globally.
The first prison death came on March 26 with the passing of Michael Tyson, 53, who was being held in jail for failing to report to his parole officer: a minor infraction.
After Tyson’s death, Cuomo promised to release 400 Rikers inmates held on similar minor infractions, but as of April 9, two weeks later, only 240 had been released. 700 inmates deemed low risk had been released statewide as of the same date. States such as California have announced plans to release 3500 non-violent inmates over the next 60 days to slow the spread.
But his critiques of the federal response have bolstered his fan base
Cuomo has taken issue on numerous occasions during his daily briefings with the federal response to — and preparedness for — this pandemic. New York had estimated and requested a need for 37,000 ventilators from the federal government to accommodate their projected peak. However, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced on April 3 that the stockpile of ventilators was only 9,054.
He was also critical of the $2 trillion stimulus package recently, claiming that states with fewer cases would receive more in aid per case. New York would receive $12,000 compared to Nebraska receiving $379,000 per case, according to a Kaiser Health News estimate cited by the governor.
The governor and Trump also sparred over responsibility for re-opening the economy over concerns of revenue hits across the board. Trump claimed it to be a decision for the White House to make, whereas Cuomo was an advocate for the state’s right to choose. The governor said Tuesday that “If [Trump] ordered me to reopen in a way that would endanger the public health of the people of my state, I wouldn’t do it.” Trump has since walked back on his statement, saying it’s up to the governor’s to decide.
So beyond New York’s borders, Cuomo has shined
States aren’t all operating on their own — Cuomo has ensured that. He has assembled a coalition of leaders of Northeastern states: New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Massachusetts. Cuomo made it clear that the region, connected by I-95 and encompassing nearly 15% of the nations’ population, needed to unite to impose the proper social distancing methods that could be undermined by traveling freely between states with differing messages.
Standing as the ringleader, Cuomo makes a significant stance, propelling him into a leadership position that encompasses more than the Empire State — perhaps one that posits him well for a 2024 presidential run.
Despite the current numbers, Cuomo remains optimistic that the current measures are successfully flattening the curve, as new hospital admissions, ventilations and I.C.U. admissions trend downwards.
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