ALBANY – State Assemblyman Jonathan Jacobson (D, Newburgh), has called on the Department of Health to reverse its directive that nursing homes cannot deny admission of residents solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19.
In an April 17 letter to Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker, Jacobson said now is not the time to place COVID-19 patents in nursing homes.
“Nursing homes now are not letting visitors come in because we don’t want to have the spread of the virus. Nursing homes are a natural breeding grounds for all viruses, especially this one which is deadly,” he said.
Jacobson said nursing homes are “simply not equipped to act as hospitals and should not be used as depositories for infected individuals.”
