Cuomo issued such a directive on Apr 10, an order which also prohibited homes for disabled people from forcing admitted and readmitted residents to be tested for the virus.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has faced intense controversy in recent weeks over his decision to force nursing homes to accept patients who have tested positive for coronavirus, a decision which many allege led to excess deaths.
Calls for Cuomo's resignation or impeachment have also arisen after it was revealed that his office suppressed the true number of deaths in these nursing homes.
Now, Fox News reveals that not only were patients who tested positive for coronavirus forced back into nursing homes, but disabled patients who tested positive were forced back into homes for the disabled as well.
Cuomo issued such a directive on Apr 10, an order which also prohibited homes for disabled people from forcing admitted and readmitted residents to be tested for the virus.
Unlike the nursing home order, however, this order has not yet been rescinded.
Around 20 percent of all disability home residents have tested positive for the virus since the pandemic began in 2020, a rate which is more than double that of New York state. 552 residents of such homes have died as a result of contracting coronavirus, a fatality rate which was nearly double that of the rest of the state as of an October 2020 study.
"These group homes were required to have a process in place to expedite the return of asymptomatic residents from the hospital, who were deemed appropriate for return to their OPWDD certified residence" said the spokeswoman for the New York Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD).
"In other words, OPWDD providers could accept individuals only if they could safely accommodate them in the group home."
People "who could not be safely accommodated either remained at the hospital or were served in one of the over 100 temporary sites established for COVID-19 recovery efforts in partnership with OPWDD provider agencies," she further stated.
State Republicans have announced that they will be investigating the matter, requesting information from the OPWDD concerning coronavirus infections and deaths in February.
"I am deeply concerned that the April 10th order from OPWDD needlessly put some of our most vulnerable citizens in harm's way," said Republican State Sen. Mike Martucci, who is also a ranking member of the Senate Disabilities Committee.
"Close on the heels of the deadly nursing home order from the Department of Health (DOH), this order appears both dangerous and tone deaf. Transparency has been a major failing of this administration at all levels."
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