Biden COVID panel member denies serving as Cuomo's 'chief advisor'
0A top member of President Joe Biden's COVID panel is distancing himself from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, denying Cuomo's claim that he was a 'chief advisor'.Dr. Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert with the University of Minnesota, was the latest to distance himself from Cuomo as fallout grows from the governor's nursing home deaths scandal.Cuomo's administration had claimed Osterholm was a 'chief advisor' who spoke with the governor on a 'regular basis' -- claims the epidemiologist was quick to deny on Thursday.'I've had one, five-minute conversation in my entire life with Governor Cuomo, just a few weeks ago when he called me, just to congratulate me on a TV program appearance,' Osterholm told the PBS program Firing Line. +7 img id="i-b6f1bd85a4d46b55" src="https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/02/19/16/39496406-9279001-image-a-8_1613753105818.jpg" height="414" width="306" alt="Dr. Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert with the University of Minnesota" class="blkBorder img-share" / Copy link to paste in your message +7 img id="i-bddcf35e70d4d1b6" src="https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/02/19/16/39496194-9279001-image-m-7_1613753099482.jpg" height="414" width="306" alt="New York Governor Andrew Cuomo" class="blkBorder img-share" / Copy link to paste in your message +7 img id="i-a2711b48df84f388" src="https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/02/19/06/39479094-9277265-image-a-10_1613717026965.jpg" height="423" width="634" alt="" class="blkBorder img-share" / Copy link to paste in your message Share this article Share Cuomo has faced fierce backlash, calls to resign, and a federal investigation after one of his top aides admitted this month that his administration had intentionally hid the true pandemic death toll in the state's nursing homes to avoid a scandal that could benefit Donald Trump.More than 15,000 people have died in New York state's nursing homes and long term care facilities from the virus, but as recently as last month, the state reported only 8,500 deaths. Asked about Cuomo's handling of the nursing home issue, Osterholm denied any involvement. 'First of all, I haven't had, not had anything to do with his nursing home activity at all,' said Osterholm. 'I came on basically in early June only just to review data on a weekly basis; did it meet the standards that they had set?' Interviewer Margaret Hoover pressed Osterholm on his claim, saying: 'You said you've only spoken to Governor Cuomo once, but one of his top aides said that [Cuomo] spoke to you on a regular basis, that you were one of his top advisors.''That's absolutely not true,' Osterholm cut in. 'Never true. I've had one, five-minute conversation, which was a surprise.''I have a paper trail of all of the emails,' he added. 'All I ever was asked to do is, did this meet the red, green, or yellow zone numbers? And that was it. I've never, I've not had a discussion with him and I've not met with any of them. I've never had a Zoom call with any o