Learning the truth about COVID in N.Y. – New York Daily News

In Congress next month, Republicans will question former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and other officials on how New Yorks leaders responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. The result will likely be a display of grandstanding and exaggeration, as political opportunists use the hearing to push their own agendas.

Yet here in New York, we have yet to conduct our own, truly independent accounting of how the state handled COVID. Democrats should be the party of accountability, honesty, and science yet even D.C. extremists are ahead of us in reviewing New Yorks COVID response.

Instead of allowing this Washington politicized circus to posture as an assessment of the pandemic response, New Yorks leaders should create a truly independent, external commission to provide an unbiased, apolitical assessment of the states COVID response.

As elected officials representing districts in the epicenter of the pandemic, we worked tirelessly to help provide for our communities throughout COVID-19, and to support those who tragically lost family members and loved ones, as well as survivors who are now chronically ill and disabled. Now, four years later, we owe it to those same communities to keep fighting for them to deliver accountability and transparency around what transpired in those weeks and months after COVID-19 hit New York.

Allowing the past to go unexamined has resulted in legitimate questions from the public about what the state is hiding. Are Democrats unwilling to examine actions by members of their own party? Are public hearings and commissions only used when politically expedient and denied when they could turn up uncomfortable truths?

Creating a truly independent commission would underscore a commitment to accountability that transcends politics sending a clear message that we put the wellbeing of New Yorkers above all else.

When any natural disaster or statewide emergency leads to tens of thousands of deaths, we have a responsibility to our constituents to review what happened, identify potential missteps, and learn from these errors. In the case of COVID-19, numerous questions were raised around the states decision to require nursing homes to accept COVID-positive patients and the high rate of nursing home deaths that ensued.

Rather than sweep this recent history under the rug, the government has a duty to provide an honest, independent accounting of the events and decisions that led to these deaths. To date, however, the only review ordered by state leaders is a study conducted by a consulting firm without the authority to subpoena witnesses or review documents. This study may contribute to our understanding of the COVID aftermath, but it is far from sufficient on its own.

In our districts, families lost parents, grandparents and loved ones and these families deserve accountability. Beyond immediate accountability, we have a responsibility to ensure this outcome does not happen again. Our state will inevitably face health emergencies in the years to come. Preventing future tragedies requires looking backward and assessing the states response with clear-eyed realism, rather than ignoring the past and hoping for the best.

In Albany, we introduced legislation to establish the COVID-19 Pandemic Response Study Commission a fully independent commission of issue experts with the support, funding and tools they need, including subpoena power to speak with any relevant witnesses and review all materials and documents.

This commission would hold public hearings so New Yorkers themselves could hear directly from experts about what transpired in March 2020. It would produce a thorough study that includes a full accounting of the actions taken during the pandemic, determines what errors were made, and most importantly identify solutions to prevent and mitigate potential harm from future tragedies particularly for communities and businesses that were disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.

Only a truly independent commission will ensure the assessment is objective and fact-based; only full subpoena power will ensure the findings are comprehensive and complete.

As elected officials, our constituents empowered us with the authority and responsibility to protect our communities and this includes protection from public health crises. If we allow the recent history of COVID-19 to go unexamined, we have failed to take every step possible to protect New Yorkers from similar tragedies in the future.

New Yorkers deserve more than politicized Washington interviews and a toothless consulting firm review they deserve for Albany to take every step possible to learn from the past so we can fully prepare for the future.

Salazar represents parts of Brooklyn in the state Senate. Gonzalez-Rojas represents parts of Queens in the Assembly.

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Learning the truth about COVID in N.Y. - New York Daily News