New Jersey governor: ‘I’m confident in the numbers’ on nursing home outbreaks

Amid reported investigations into New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) office handling of statistics around coronavirus outbreaks in nursing homes, neighboring New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) said Sunday he was “confident” in his state’s data.

Murphy’s administration, like Cuomo’s, ordered long-term care facilities in the state to admit people who had previously tested positive for the virus at the start of the pandemic. Appearing on CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday, Murphy said “I’m confident in the numbers”

“Our health department, our commission, was explicit, black and white, if you re-admit a previously COVID-positive resident, they need to be segregated, they need to be separated, either onto their own floor, their own wing, their own building, and staff as well,” Murphy said. “I think we started reporting probable deaths from COVID as early as June.”

The governor added that the state had “said to long-term care facilities, if you can’t separate, come to us and we will find another alternative, and many did.”

“I’m confident in the numbers,” New Jersey @GovMurphy says of his states reporting of COVID-19-related deaths in nursing homes.

“It’s tragic, we were clobbered.” He adds: “We have been transparent and explicit since day one.” pic.twitter.com/AVqT5KaUnn

— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) March 7, 2021

“It’s tragic, we were clobbered. And I mourn the loss of each and every one of those lives, but I am [confident],” Murphy added. “We have been transparent and explicit since day one.”

Host Margaret Brennan also asked Murphy about allegations of sexual harassment against Cuomo, which Murphy said was “deeply troubling … and more data points make it even more troubling.”

The governor stopped short of calling for Cuomo to resign, saying a third-party investigation should be allowed to play out.

“Every person, regardless of who they are, who has a concern, has a right to be heard,” he added.