From the Wall Street Journal -

How New York’s Coronavirus Response Made the Pandemic Worse

The hasty expansion of medical facilities by state, city and hospital leaders led to grave mistakes, a Wall Street Journal investigation found; ‘wartime conditions’

"New York leaders faced an unanticipated crisis as the new coronavirus overwhelmed the nation’s largest city. Their response was marred by missed warning signs and policies that many health-care workers say put residents at greater risk and led to unnecessary deaths."

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From The Washington Examiner -

All that media praise for Andrew Cuomo looks pretty stupid right about now

[www.washingtonexaminer.com]

The way most reporters and commentators told it, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo led one of the best, if not the best, coronavirus responses in the country. The way members of the press told it, the governor’s wisdom, steely determination, and steady hand were guiding the Empire State safely through one of the most dangerous and deadly episodes in its history.

But these glowing characterizations of Cuomo have not been borne out by the facts. Indeed, when it comes to the virus, the governor of New York seems to be every bit as incapable and out of his depth as New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, and that is saying a lot.

The Wall Street Journal, which is part of a very small and very exclusive club of news outlets that have examined carefully Cuomo’s actual record on combatting the virus, published a report this week showing the governor’s handling of the viral pandemic has been anything but competent and effectual.

In fact, it has been the opposite. The Wall Street Journal’s investigation uncovered major and glaring government missteps, including:

• Improper patient transfers. Some patients were too sick to have been transferred between hospitals. Squabbling between the Cuomo and de Blasio administrations contributed to an uncoordinated effort.

• Insufficient isolation protocols. Hospitals often mixed infected patients with the uninfected early on, and the virus spread to non-Covid-19 units.

• Inadequate staff planning. Hospitals added hundreds of intensive-care beds but not always enough trained staff, leading to improper treatments and overlooked patients dying alone.

• Mixed messages. State, city government and hospital officials kept shifting guidelines about when exposed and ill front-line workers should return to work.

• Overreliance on government sources for key equipment. Hospitals turned to the state and federal government for hundreds of ventilators, but many were faulty or inadequate.

• Procurement-planning gaps. While leaders focused attention on procuring ventilators, hospitals didn’t always provide for adequate supplies of critical resources including oxygen, vital-signs monitors and dialysis machines.

• Incomplete staff-protection policies. Many hospitals provided staff with insufficient protective equipment and testing.
ProPublica, which also has done the difficult work of digging into the details of New York’s reaction to the virus, similarly found a pattern of reckless, ineptitude in Cuomo’s handling of the crisis. There is a reason why, as one ProPublica report shows, New York has 10 times the number of COVID deaths as California.

ProPublica, which also has done the difficult work of digging into the details of New York’s reaction to the virus, similarly found a pattern of reckless, ineptitude in Cuomo’s handling of the crisis. There is a reason why, as one ProPublica report shows, New York has 10 times the number of COVID deaths as California.

Now, compare what the Wall Street Journal and ProPublica found to the press's portrayal of Cuomo was portrayed at the outset of the pandemic. Compare their findings to the governor's near-nightly appearances on his little brother’s more-than-friendly CNN show, a clear conflict of interest regardless of whether the elder Cuomo has mismanaged New York’s coronavirus response. Compare what the Wall Street Journal and ProPublica discovered to ABC News’s Amy Robach’s very recent cloying, softball interview with the governor. Unsurprisingly, Cuomo’s many leadership failures were not the focus of their shared discussion. Rather, Robach concentrated on important things, such as the governor’s reaction to being sexualized by lonely wine moms.

Journalists rarely, if ever, seem to realize when they are the sole targets of the performance. In the case of Cuomo, who has arguably bungled his state’s COVID response worse than any of the other 49 governors, journalists absolutely have been the audience for the governor’s tough-talk, no-nonsense routine. He talks a big game about leadership, shared responsibilities, and the like, using all the correct buzzwords, all of which give him the appearance of a capable and thoughtful leader. But his actions say otherwise.

Sadly, though, saying the right words is apparently all it takes to win the immediate and unquestioning adoration of the very serious and critical Fourth Estate. Well, that and a certain political affiliation likely helps, too.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/18/2020 05:38PM by Jennifer.