Poll: Majority Want Congress to Investigate Coronavirus Case Reporting

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 2: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo removes his face mask at the start of a news conference at the National Press Club May 27, 2020 in Washington, DC. Following a closed-door meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House, Cuomo leveled criticism at Republican senators and other politicians that he said want to limit federal aid for New York to combat and recover from the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

A majority of Americans want Congress to investigate whether or not officials accurately reported coronavirus cases in the United States, a Rasmussen Reports survey released Wednesday found.

The survey, taken February 14-15, 2021, among 1,000 likely U.S. voters, asked, “Should Congress investigate whether officials are reporting accurate information about COVID-19 cases?”

A solid majority, or 65 percent, said yes, followed by 23 percent who said no, and 13 percent who said they remain unsure. However, opinions do not seem to be partisan, as a majority of Republicans (74 percent), Democrats (60 percent), and others (59 percent), support such an investigation.

When asked if they trust information from public officials regarding the number of cases and the number of deaths stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, 56 percent indicated they at least “somewhat” trust the information. Forty-three percent expressed distrust, choosing “not very” or “not at all.” Sixty-one percent of Republicans said the same, indicating a general distrust in the information, compared to 22 percent of Democrats who indicated the same.

Per Rasmussen:

Voters who approve of President Joe Biden are more likely to they have a lot of trust in information from public officials about the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths, while those who disapprove of Biden are more likely to support a congressional investigation.

The survey coincides with ongoing fallout over Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) administration reportedly covering up coronavirus nursing home fatality data over fears of a federal investigation. Cuomo has maintained his administration did nothing wrong and has even defended the controversial March 25 directive, which allowed recovering coronavirus patients to go into New York nursing homes.

“COVID did not get into the nursing homes by people coming from hospitals,” the Democrat governor said during a press conference this week, absolving his administration of blame for the thousands of coronavirus-related fatalities that occurred in his state’s nursing homes.

“COVID came into the nursing homes by staff walking into the nursing home when we didn’t even know we had COVID — staff walking into a nursing home even though they were asymptomatic because the national experts all told us you could only spread COVID if you had symptoms,” he said.

“COVID may have been brought into a nursing home because visitors brought it in and didn’t know they were contagious because the guidance was you can only be contagious if you have symptoms —if you’re sneezing, if you’re coughing,” Cuomo added. “That turned out to be wrong.”

He also claimed that the New York Department of Health has “always fully and publicly reported all COVID deaths in nursing homes and hospitals.”

The feds are reportedly investigating the Cuomo administration’s actions in relation to the nursing home scandal.