Hudson Valley Residents Split On Cuomo's Handling Of Pandemic

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — Hudson Valley residents are split over their feelings about the lockdown, but many agree that Gov. Andrew Cuomo did not do a good job handling the pandemic, according to a recent Patch survey.

Patch surveyed more than 700 people in the area about their feelings on Cuomo's handling of the pandemic. While people were split on how to grade him, 29 percent of respondents gave him an A for his handling of the pandemic, while 35 percent gave him an F.

Many people criticized the way Cuomo handled nursing homes during the pandemic. The governor has come under increasing scrutiny as it was revealed that his aides altered the number of coronavirus deaths in nursing homes in reports.

"Governor Cuomo's decision to allow covid-positive patients back into both nursing homes and residences for the developmentally disabled were his biggest mistakes," one person wrote. "By these actions, he caused many needless deaths within the most vulnerable populations in New York."

However, people were much more evenly split on the severity of the lockdown in New York — 45 percent of people said it was too severe, while 43 percent said it was about right.

"I understand the difficult decisions being made," one respondent wrote. "I believe the severe lock downs should probably have lasted a few additional weeks, but I also understand the devastation to the economy and the mental health aspect of it as well."

People who responded to the Patch survey are split on how the state has handled the rollout of the vaccine, but few people are pleased: only 10 percent gave the vaccine rollout an A, while 21 percent gave it an F. Most people thought the vaccine rollout is OK, with half of respondents grading it either a B or C.

Many people were displeased with how Cuomo handled the state's economy during the lockdown. Of those who responded to the survey, 38 percent gave Cuomo an F on his handling of the economy. Only 17 percent gave him an A.

"He had to protect the health of the people first so businesses had to close through the pandemic," someone wrote. "I still don’t understand why Home Depot and some of the large businesses like Walmart we’re allowed to stay open when smaller businesses that don’t have the financial ability to be resilient were kept closed."

Here are the full results from Patch's survey. The survey is not a scientific poll, but is meant to give an impression of what people think of the issue.