New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) reportedly gave family members, including CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, “special access” to state-run COVID-19 tests in early 2020, the Washington Post first reported Wednesday.
Why it matters: State officials are not allowed to use their position to gain privileges for themselves or others under the New York Constitution. Cuomo’s office went back to the allegations in an emailed statement, with senior adviser Rich Azzopard saying, “We must avoid insincere attempts to rewrite the past.”
- According to the New York Times, “senior health officials” conducted the tests at a time when “the severity of the virus was still becoming apparent to the general public and testing was not widely available to most people.”
- It is the latest in a string of allegations against the beleaguered governor, who is also facing investigations into allegations of sexual misconduct and his treatment of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes.
For the record: Cuomo has denied the previous allegations and has rejected calls from high democrats and others to resign.
Latest allegations: Chris Cuomo, who tested positive for the coronavirus in March, is said to have “ benefited from the priority testing program, ” according to WashPost, citing people with knowledge of the case.
- The CNN anchor “was swept clean by a top New York Department of Health physician who visited his home in Hamptons to collect samples from him and his family,” the Post reported.
- “The same doctor, Eleanor Adams, now a top adviser to the national health commissioner, was also hired to test several other Cuomo family members, according to two people familiar with the program,” said the Post.
- Citing two people, WashPost reported that state police troopers helped rush the test to a public health lab in Albany and some lab workers worked well past their shift that night “to process the results of people near Cuomo” before taking the silently returned the results to the family members. .
What they say: CNN spokesperson Matt Dornic said in an emailed statement, “We don’t usually interfere with our employees’ medical decisions.
- Unsurprisingly, however, in the early days of a once-in-century global pandemic, Chris turned to everyone for advice and help, as he did any human, when he was showing symptoms and worried about possible spread. would be. “
Cuomo’s office did not directly address the specific allegations. But Azzopardi said that in the early days of the pandemic, the Cuomo government was “doing everything it could to get people tested.”
- Azzopardi said this included “in some cases going to people’s homes, and from door to door … taking samples from those suspected of being exposed to COVID to identify cases and prevent new ones.”
- “Among those we helped were members of the general public, including lawmakers, reporters, state workers and their families who feared they had contracted the virus and had the potential to spread it further,” Azzopardi said.
- According to Azzopardi, there was “a lot of emphasis on tracing contacts”.
NY State Department of Health spokesman Gary Holmes said in an emailed statement, “You are asking professionals who have taken an oath to protect a patient’s privacy to violate that oath and compromise their integrity.
“More than 43 million New Yorkers have been tested, and to comment on any of them would be a serious violation of medical ethics. We have built a leading testing infrastructure to ensure that anyone who needs a test can get one.” continues today. “
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated with CNN’s Commentary.
Go deeper: Biden says Cuomo should resign if the charges are true