Cuomo Gave Family Members, Other VIPs Special Access To COVID-19 Testing During Shortage

New York governor Andrew Cuomo did a good job making people think he was worried about others during the beginning stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the end though, it appears he was worried only about himself and his family.

According to the Washington Post, Cuomo prioritized relatives and top associates known as "specials" or "VIPs" by giving them special access to coronavirus testing during test shortages. Yes, you read that correctly. Once again, it sounds like Cuomo wasn't so perfect in his handling of the pandemic as many would have you believe.

The family side of it at least makes some sense. The governor took care of his brother, CNN host Chris Cuomo, mother and at least one sister by having tests administered at their private residences. That's an issue, but at least it's understandable.

Taking care of your "friends" though and using the power of governor to do it? Big yikes.

Nurses were literally sent to penthouses in Manhattan to collect testing samples. Those samples were then rushed -- by state troopers, by the way -- to the Wadsworth Center to be analyzed by workers who went above and beyond their normal work shift.

“We should avoid insincere efforts to rewrite the past,” Richard Azzopardi, Cuomo’s senior adviser said. "In the early days of this pandemic, when there was a heavy emphasis on contact tracing, we were absolutely going above and beyond to get people testing — including in some instances going to people’s homes — and door to door in places like New Rochelle — to take samples from those believed to have been exposed to COVID in order to identify cases and prevent additional ones."

"Among those we assisted were members of the general public, including legislators, reporters, state workers and their families who feared they had contracted the virus and had the capability to further spread it," he said, according to an article from the Daily Caller.

Well, this is probably not going to go over well.

Follow Clint Lamb on Twitter @ClintRLamb.