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On Monday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention abruptly reverted to its previous guidance on how coronavirus is transmitted, removing references to airborne transmission that it had published a few days earlier.
“A draft version of the proposed changes to these recommendations was mistakenly posted on the agency’s official website. CDC is updating its recommendations regarding airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19). Once this process is complete, the update language will be released, ”said Jason McDonald, a CDC spokesman, in an emailed response to CNN.
The guide was quietly updated on Friday, according to the CDC website. On Sunday, CNN was the first to report the change. The CDC responded to CNN just before noon Monday to say it was reverting to the previous guide.
Despite several studies that have shown that the new coronavirus can be spread through tiny airborne particles, the CDC page now says that Covid-19 is believed to primarily spread between people in close contact (around six feet) and “through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes or speaks”, the same language that he published months ago.
On Friday’s change: In language released Friday and now removed, the CDC said that Covid-19 is most commonly spread between people who are in close contact with each other, and went on to say that it is known to spread “through respiratory droplets or small particles. , like those of aerosols, it occurs when an infected person coughs, sneezes, sings, speaks or breathes ”.
These particles can cause infection when “they are inhaled through the nose, mouth, respiratory tract and lungs,” the agency said. “This is believed to be the main way the virus spreads.”
“There is growing evidence that airborne droplets and particles can remain suspended in the air and be inhaled by others, and travel distances beyond 6 feet (for example, during choir practice, in restaurants or in gym classes), “said the page. in Friday’s update, which has since been removed. “In general, indoor environments without good ventilation increase this risk.
In Friday’s update, the CDC had added new measures to protect yourself in others, including recommendations to use air purifiers to reduce germs in the air indoors and a clear guide to “stay at least 6 feet away from others, whenever possible. ”
The updated CDC page had also changed the language about asymptomatic transmission, from saying “some people without symptoms can spread the virus” to saying “people who are infected but show no symptoms can pass the virus to other people.
Also on Friday, the CDC updated its coronavirus testing guide to emphasize that anyone who has been in contact with an infected person should get tested for coronavirus. An earlier controversial update was not written by CDC scientists and posted online before it underwent the normal scientific review process, two sources confirmed to CNN last week.
CNN reported last week that U.S. Health and Human Services communications officials appointed by President Trump had recently lobbied to change the language of weekly scientific reports released by the CDC so as not to undermine Trump’s political message, according to a federal health official. HHS officials had defended the lawsuit, saying that the CDC was under the agency’s umbrella and that all communications and public documents had to be approved at the top, and CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield has said that “at no time has the scientific integrity” of these reports have been compromised.
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