COVID Cuomo Investigation?

Just learned the Department of Justice is not going to investigate New York Governor Cuomo’s role in the COVID case reporting with regard to nursing homes. That is a good thing in my book. Here is why.

First, the early days of COVID-19 were frantic with projections and calculations. No one knew how many cases there would be eventually. No one knew how the disease spread. No one knew for certain who was most at risk and who was least at risk. Numbers were floating around like at back room betting parlor.

Second, in nursing homes specifically, no one was sure what a patient died from. Was it the underlying medical condition with which the patient was admitted? Was it the flu? Was it COVID? Was it the deathly march of aging? Was Alzheimer’s taking yet another patient?

Third, data gatherers were hard pressed to keep all of these factors straight in those early days of following the march of COVID-19. They did not want to inflate COVID deaths, nor did they want to cover them up. They just wanted to get the number right. Mistakes were undoubtedly made.

In the eye of the storm were both New York State and New York City. Both were the epicenter of the pandemic’s spread. At the center of that was a governor who jumped right in to gain control of the situation and direct resources to the most affected sites and populations. No one knew then what we know now. Epidemiologists were just getting started with their data gathering and projections to track the disease’s current and future track.

Governor Cuomo worked long days, everyday with keen attention and high energy. Even his enemies gave him high marks for service and dedication.

Second guessing him later in a never ending saga of the blame game is a travesty. What mistakes were made early on simply come with the territory of early crisis management. Hindsight is always 20-20 and insightful. Clever that. Leaders, however, work with what they have and take action to save lives as best they can.

It is best that we as a people harness our energy to build the best outcomes possible with the resources at hand. Especially now. We have the vaccines thanks to enormous strides in science. We have ample vaccine supplies, thanks to fantastic manufacturing skills. We have vaccines distributed where they need to be thanks to the genius of logistics experts. The medical community is marshalled to administer the shots. The vast inoculation program worked well until politics and ignorance entered the picture.

Now the outcome of our nation regarding COVID is in the hands of those who refuse the logic of their own life. I guess it is their life to lose. Too bad they will take others with them, even those they love and revere.

Ignorance is like that. They know not what they do. I recall that phrase being used before, don’t you?

July 28, 2021