Amid reports of tampering with Trump administration officials, the country’s top health agency’s erroneous and inverted coronavirus guidance is “deeply in-depth” and “undermines the agency’s credibility,” he said. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC on Tuesday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention admitted Monday that it mistakenly posted a draft guide stating that coronavirus is spread by airborne particles that can be suspended in the air and travel more than 6 feet. Global health officials from the World Health Organization said there was no new evidence of airborne particles.
The former Food and Gottlieb said it’s really hard to believe that this is a contingent posting of the draft guide that they had to pull down after 48 hours they didn’t realize they had put it down over the weekend. Head of Drug Administration in the Trump administration.
The CDC’s error on Monday came just days after it went against the controversial coronavirus testing guideline on its website, saying people who were contacted by an infected person but did not show any symptoms were “not in need of testing.” The CDC called the amendment a “clarification” amid reports in the New York Times that it received guidance from Trump administration officials rather than CDC scientists. The Times quoted people familiar with the matter and internal documents.
The reports follow similar accounts reported by Politico earlier this month that requested requests from communications assistants from the Department of Health and Human Services and the ability to review and detect coronavirus-related studies in the Morbidity and Mortality weekly reports published by the CDC.
“This is deeply in-depth,” Gottlieb said in an interview with “Squawk” on Tuesday. “You need to be able to accept that the content put up by an agency reflects the look of that agency.” Administrative officials may publish their views on coronavirus but not under the CDC but under their signature.
“If it doesn’t represent the work of the CDC, it shouldn’t have the CDC logo on it,” Gottlieb said. “I think it’s the worst event of the last few weeks – looking at information placed on the CDC website that does not represent the work of CDC scientists or does not represent the consensus of the agency.”
However, Gottlieb said many scientists already believe that the coronavirus can spread through the air under the right conditions, and with the guidance removed there is “nothing surprising”.
“In some cases, the virus is transmitted primarily by dot transmission,” Gottlieb said. “I think people just assume it’s a fact, most scientists assume at the moment.”
The World Health Organization states that Covid-19 is primarily transmitted through respiratory drops that are passed when an infected person coughs, sneezes or breathes. WHO officials said Monday that there are some situations – people crowd into small spaces without adequate ventilation for a long time, for example – where aerosol-based transmissions can occur. However, his advice on how to prevent the spread of coronavirus has not changed.
“Knowing the risk is about managing the duration, intensity and duration of the time you spend in the company of other individuals in crowded spaces,” said Dr. Mike RJ, executive director of the WHO’s Health Emergency Program.
– CNBC Will Fઅhrer And Berkeley Loveless Jr. Contributed to this report.
Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC contributor and board member Pfizer, Start genetic testing Tempus and Biotech Company Illumina. He also serves as co-chair Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings. And Royal CaribbeanOf “Healthy Cell Panel.”
.
