Andrew Cuomo penning new book on coronavirus response

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) is writing a book focusing largely on his response to the coronavirus pandemic, according to its publisher. 

“In his own voice, Andrew Cuomo chronicles in ‘American Crisis’ the ingenuity and sacrifice required of so many to fight the pandemic, sharing his personal reflections and the decision-making that shaped his policy, and offers his frank accounting and assessment of his interactions with the federal government and the White House, as well as other state and local political and health officials,” Crown Books said in a statement Tuesday.

Cuomo’s book, “American Crisis,” is set for release in October, just three weeks before the presidential election. 

“The questions are what do you do with the fear and would you succumb to it,” Cuomo wrote in an excerpt shared with The Associated Press. “I would not allow the fear to control me. The fear kept my adrenaline high and that was a positive. But I would not let the fear be a negative, and I would not spread it. Fear is a virus also.”

The New York governor has received generally high marks for his handling of the crisis, despite the state recording more deaths than any other in the U.S. Overall, more than 32,000 New Yorkers have died since the pandemic hit in March, but the state has seen daily deaths drop dramatically from 952 on May 5 to just five on Aug. 14.

A July Marist poll shows the governor’s approval is the highest since taking office in 2011. Overall, 60 percent of New York voters say Cuomo is doing either an excellent or good job as mayor, a sharp jump from a 38 percent approval rating in March 2019.

Cuomo has rejected calls for an independent investigation into thousands of coronavirus deaths at New York nursing homes, calling criticism of his handling of patients in those facilities “all politically motivated.”

An AP investigation published last week found New York’s death toll of patients in nursing homes could be double the more than 6,000 already recorded.

“Unlike every other state with major nursing home outbreaks, New York only counts resident deaths that occur in the home, not in hospitals. That could make New York’s official toll, already among the nation’s highest, a significant undercount,” the AP reported on Aug. 11.

Unlike every other state with major nursing home outbreaks, New York only counts resident deaths that occur in the home, not in hospitals. That could make New York’s official toll, already among the nation’s highest, a significant undercount. https://t.co/Krrw3OrVuZ

— The Associated Press (@AP) August 11, 2020

Financial terms of his new book were not disclosed.