The Washington Post is reporting that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo may have given family members, including his younger brother CNN host Chris Cuomo, special access to Covid-19 tests at the start of last year.
According to the Post, CNN’s 9 p.m. host “benefited from the priority testing program.” He was reportedly “swabbed by a top New York Department of Health doctor, who visited his Hamptons home to collect samples from him and his family.”
The tests were then reportedly rushed to labs via New York State troopers.
You’ll recall Cuomo contracted the virus last spring and hosted a number of shows from his home; shows which delivered massive ratings for the network in April.
CNN addressed the matter in a statement: “We generally do not get involved in the medical decisions of our employees. However, it is not surprising that in the earliest days of a once-in-a-century global pandemic, when Chris was showing symptoms and was concerned about possible spread, he turned to anyone he could for advice and assistance, as any human being would.”
The Post also reports that the same doctor who swabbed Cuomo is a top adviser to New York State health commissioner, Howard Zucker, and was also called upon to test other family members.
The issue with Gov. Cuomo supposedly allowing his family to move toward the front of the Covid testing line is that it would go against the state’s constitution where state officials are disallowed from using their roles to enrich themselves or gain privileges for others.
The New York governor has garnered more than his share of bad press lately. He’s also facing investigations over allegations of sexual misconduct, and also criticism of his handling of deaths at New York nursing homes due to Covid-19.