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On Thursday, September 17, 2020, the New York Times broke the news that the official coronavirus testing guide from the Center for Disease Control, which deterred people without symptoms from getting tested, actually came from the Department of Health and Human Services, without the knowledge or approval of the CDC:
The guide said that it was not necessary to test people without symptoms for Covid-19 even if they had been exposed to the virus. It came at a time when public health experts were pushing for more testing rather than less, and administration officials told The Times that the document was a product of the CDC and had been reviewed with information. from the agency’s director, Dr. Robert Redfield.
But officials told The Times this week that the Department of Health and Human Services did the rewrite and then “posted” it on the CDC’s public website, circumventing the agency’s strict scientific review process.
This news came after a confusing summer in which HHS took over the collection of coronavirus data from the CDC and outsourced it to a suspected private subcontractor who screwed up the project and then took over the reins. back to the CDC in late August.
Then, on Friday, September 18, 2020, the CDC updated its coronavirus guidance to recognize the potential threat from aerosol transmissions that linger in the air much longer than infected droplets from casual conversation. How The Washington Post summed up well:
The CDC changed its guidelines on Friday, but the change wasn’t widely noticed until a CNN report Sunday. Where the agency previously warned that the virus spreads primarily through large droplets found at close range, on Friday it said “small particles, such as those from aerosols,” were a common vector.
But Jay Butler, CDC’s deputy director of infectious diseases, said Friday’s update was posted in error. “Unfortunately, an initial draft of a review was published without any technical review,” he said.
By Monday, September 21, 2020, the CDC had reverted to its previous language, deleting all mention of airborne spread except for an update box that acknowledges the bug and says the changes are still in the works.
Scientists around the world have been crying out since July for the World Health Organization and various governments to recognize the potential of the coronavirus in the air. Also from The Washington Post:
Experts who reviewed Friday’s CDC post said the language change had the power to change policy and public behavior. Some suggested it should push for a major rethinking of public policy, especially at a time when students from many areas are returning to indoor classrooms.
It was a “major change,” José-Luis Jiménez, a chemistry professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder who studies how aerosols spread the virus, told The Washington Post, before the CDC reversed itself. “This is a good thing, if we can reduce transmission because more people understand how it is spreading and what to do to stop it.”
In possibly related news, Trump’s trusty puppets at HHS are also taking control of the FDA’s vaccine regulations.
Suffice it to say, none of this inspires much guidance in the Trump administration’s handling of the coronavirus, especially after the news that Trump himself lied about his awareness of its potential on the air as early as February 7, 2020.
CDC Reversed, Saying Guidelines They Released On Airborne Coronavirus Transmission Were Wrong [Tim Elfrink, Ben Guarino, and Chris Mooney / The Washington Post]
Image via CDC
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