Janice Dean: Family Members Who Died In New York’s Nursing Home Disaster ‘Not Just Numbers On A Curve’

Fox News senior meteorologist Janice Dean said Thursday her family members who died of the coronavirus were “not just numbers on a curve.”

She remains outraged and saddened that her mother-in-law and father-in-law are both dead of the coronavirus because of Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s catastrophic policy of putting sick residents in the same space as healthy ones she told Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”

“It is day-by-day, Tucker” Dean said of dealing with the tragedy “We weren’t able to have a funeral for them or celebrate their life properly. That was very difficult — in the normal way that normal people would mourn: we didn’t have that … And these people are real people. They are not just numbers on a curve.” (RELATED: ‘Make No Mistake: We Want Answers’: Janice Dean Calls For Accountability In Andrew Cuomo’s Nursing Home COVID Crisis)

Dean is outraged that the story of her loss and thousands of others has not been a focus of media attention. “That’s one of the reasons I’m speaking out … I have not seen the coverage of this. You’ve covered it, Martha [McCallum] has covered it  and the New York Post covered it. This should be one of the biggest stories of this pandemic of 2020 — 20% of our lost loved ones are from nursing homes. And it’s because Governor Cuomo and several other governors, by the way in different states forced COVID-recovering patients into nursing homes.“

Dean shared with viewers how her husband received a phone call about a week before his father died to see the elder man would be moving to another floor of the residence. “And I believe that floor was used for recovering COVID patients.”

“I can’t prove that. We can’t get any confirmation on this — and by the way, he didn’t find out until the death certificate came in that he was COVID. He got a call on a Saturday morning that his dad was not feeling well, and three hours later, he was dead,” Dean remembered.

“And his mom, two weeks later got COVID, was rushed to the hospital, died in the hospital and her number will not be counted as a nursing home or assisted living home because of the governor’s policy of saying that she died in the hospital, even though it was confirmed COVID. (RELATED: In Pennsylvania 68% Of Coronavirius Deaths Occurred In Nursing Homes)

“I’m really glad that Chris Cuomo has recovered from COVID because he apparently did have it. And I’m glad that their family as well, but my family is not well. And that’s not something to joke about,” Dean said, referencing a television conversation between Cuomo the CNN host and his brother the governor that centered upon a joke about the size of a cotton swab.

Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cu0mo demanded on March 25 that nursing homes accept sick residents. Only as the death toll rose did the decision attract media attention and Cuomo finally  rescinded that order May 11. A Daily Caller News Foundation exclusive revealed that New York knowingly under reported its nursing homes deaths from coronavirus.