A Syracuse New York woman who is grieving the loss of her father is reacting to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s explanation for how he handled coronavirus death data in nursing homes.
Natalie Walters lost her father, Jack, to both COVID-19 and dementia in December.
He passed away at Loretto Health & Rehabilitation.
“I’m going to try and keep it together for you,” she told Currents News. “I don’t know how anybody can divorce the consequences or the culpability from the actions that were done.”
Cuomo’s aide, Melissa DeRosa, says the Cuomo team “froze” when the Department of Justice was asking for information on nursing home deaths.
That was in August, when state lawmakers were requesting the same data
“He is trying to deflect the responsibility of being governor in our state,” said Natalie. “The governor who kept saying over and over ‘follow the facts’ and when you decide to manipulate facts for your own fortitude, that is suspect to me.”
Currents News read Natalie some of the governor’s words, asking if that was an apology to families like hers.
“Having the bravery to look at a camera and say to the people of New York State, ‘I am so sorry that this has happened to you all,’ or ‘I promise,’ and ‘I will,’ or ‘I hope’ — anything that leads after that would’ve given, I think, all of us a sense of wow we’re not left behind in all of this”
On whether she thinks the circumstances with her father could’ve been different now if it weren’t for how things were handled, she says, “I think had the information been given to us timely that we have found out has been withheld, that perhaps — perhaps — there could’ve been a different ending in this situation. We might not even be talking, you know? My father might still be here.”
Natalie said she repeatedly watched the clip of the governor saying there shouldn’t be an investigation to make sure she heard him correctly, and believes an investigation should be done.