Once again, the state Health Department has tacitly admitted a major bungle in handling nursing homes amid the pandemic — even as Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Health chief Dr. Howard Zucker keep pretending they’ve been right all along.
The latest: A new state order tells homes in most of the state to test all staff for COVID-19 just once a week, rather than twice.
That follows Monday’s Post exposé of the fact that labs couldn’t process so many tests: Even by going to out-of-state private labs, homes were waiting weeks to get results.
Meanwhile, the burden was slowing labs’ work for other facilities — forcing hospitals to cancel surgeries because they couldn’t get test results within the legal window.
Of course, the twice-a-week mandate was simply a bid to show that the Health Department was serious about the crisis in the homes, which have seen more than 6,000 lives lost to the coronavirus, after Zucker’s outrageous March 25 order that the facilities admit infected patients — indeed, to not even test those sent from hospitals.
Cuomo hatchetman … er, spokesman Rich Azzopardi insists the testing delays are everyone else’s fault: “It’s up to the facility to work with their contracted labs to ensure they are getting results. Those who can’t will be held accountable.”
Can’t do the impossible? You’ll pay!
The real question is: Who will hold Zucker and Cuomo accountable?