Nursing homes in the state of New York were forced to accept over 4,500 patients who were positive with the coronavirus because of an order that was issued by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. That was according to a tally made by the Associated Press.

Cuomo is facing intense criticism for his order that required nursing homes to accept patients who were recovering from the coronavirus. The problem is that the elderly are specifically prone to the sickness caused by the virus. The introduction of the patients into the nursing home facilities is now being blamed for the high death count in New York nursing homes. Cuomo gave out the order on the 25th of March but he waited several weeks before he reversed it on the 10th of May. That was enough to kill many of the residents in nursing homes.

The New York State Department of Health conducted a survey to count the number of coronavirus patients that got accepted into the nursing home system of the state, but it refused to make the results of the survey public. That’s why the AP has conducted its own survey which got the figure.

The Department of Health also made a quiet change to the way that it was reporting the deaths due to coronavirus in nursing homes. The change happened when Cuomo started facing increased scrutiny because of his questionable decisions. There was a change in the way that deaths in nursing homes were reported from the 28th of April to the 3rd of May. The state made it so that the patients who died in hospitals are no longer counted in the casualties of the nursing homes. This method of reporting was actually unique as no other state is using it. That means that a nursing home resident who got sick because of the coronavirus and was taken immediately to the hospital but who died because of the virus, later on, will no longer be reported under the nursing home casualties.

Yet the Democrats have until recently been toying with the idea of getting Cuomo as a last-minute replacement for Joe Biden who seems to be in no shape to go on with campaigning. However, if they decide to go with Cuomo, the governor will have to face some tough questions regarding his orders.