Cuomo Family Members, Including Brother Chris, Reportedly Got ‘Special Access’ to Covid-19 Tests
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is under fire for multiple allegations of sexual harassment and for the nursing home deaths scandal. Now a new report says that family members of the governor got “special access” to covid-19 tests.
The news was broken by the Times-Union, which said New York Department of Health officials were directed by the governor and the state’s health commissioner “to conduct prioritized coronavirus testing on the governor’s relatives as well as influential people with ties to the administration.”
The Washington Post is reporting the same, saying “a state lab immediately processed the results of those who were tested, the people said, even as average New Yorkers were struggling to get tested in the early days of the pandemic due to a scarcity of resources.”
And both reports say that this included the governor’s brother, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo. The Times-Union and Post both say that Dr. Eleanor Adams, a top adviser to New York state health commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker, went to Cuomo’s residence in the Hamptons to administer testing.
Cuomo’s leadership during the pandemic has faced great scrutiny, particularly over nursing home deaths. Earlier this month there was reporting that Larry Schwartz — a longtime adviser to the governor and New York’s vaccine czar — called county officials to “gauge their loyalty” to Cuomo.
The governor’s brother faced a lot of criticism for their multiple friendly interviews last year, including the one with the massive cotton swab prop. Amid the growing scandals surrounding his brother, Chris Cuomo said earlier this month, “Obviously I’m aware of what’s going on with my brother. And obviously I cannot cover it because he is my brother.”
UPDATE — 10:37 pm ET: CNN responded with a statement to the Washington Post:
Statement from @CNN spokesman Matt Dornic on reports that @ChrisCuomo got special coronavirus testing treatment from NYS officials. pic.twitter.com/4h7fe0Eb6m
— ErikWemple (@ErikWemple) March 25, 2021
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