House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) on Thursday ramped up his criticism of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s handling of the nursing home COVID-19 deaths, alleging Cuomo “lied about the death toll” and releasing a timeline of the alleged cover-up. “The facts are simple: Governor Cuomo issued an order sending thousands of contagious COVID-19 positive patients into nursing homes and then he lied about the death toll,” Scalise said in a statement. The COVID-related nursing home deaths have been a flashpoint for criticism against Cuomo, who faced public outcry over a controversial March 25, 2020, directive—subsequently reversed in May, 2020—essentially prohibiting nursing home operators from refusing to accept residents even if they tested positive for COVID-19. “No resident shall be denied readmission or admission to a nursing home solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19,” the order stated. Under the order, if hospital staff determined residents were medically stable, nursing …