Health leaders from Santa Clara County on Wednesday unveiled recent changes to the CDC’s coronavirus guidelines that relaxed test testing recommendations for asymptomatic individuals at a news conference.
The changes, which appeared on the CDC’s website on Monday, say that people who have been in close contact with a COVID-19 patient but are asymptomatic “do not necessarily need a test” unless they are a “vulnerable individual” or are advised to take one by healthcare providers as public health officials.
“I did not really believe it because it seemed very bizarre,” said Santa Clara County Public Health Director Dr. Sara Cody. “The truth is that if you have been in contact with someone who is infected with COVID, you absolutely must get a test.”
The test site of the Santa Clara County Public Health Department says anyone exposed to a COVID-19 patient, regardless of whether they have symptoms, should be tested immediately. The CDC’s own page for COVID-19 planning scenarios estimates for the purposes of public health planning that 40% of COVID-19 infections are asymptomatic.
Video: Medical correspondent calls new CDC guidelines ‘reasonable’
Cody also criticized the changed guidelines for saying that people with mild symptoms “may want a test and be offered a test,” appearing to refer to a review on the CDC website that says tests “may” be advised for people who are mildly exposed to Covid19 symptoms.
“Our local guidance and our order is very clear, that everyone with all the symptoms of COVID should be tested immediately,” she said.
Cody’s concerns echoed those urged by politicians and medical experts across the country, who said the recommendation not to test asymptomatic individuals was unscientific and could skew infection rate data. Governor of California Gavin Newsom and Andrew Cuomo of New York have both said their states will not follow the updated federal guidelines.
“I agree 100% with Dr. Cody,” said Steven Goodman, a professor of epidemiology at Stanford. “I’ve been worried about some CDC actions before, but this is the first recommendation they ‘ve made that actually made me angry.”
Goodman said the guidelines would immediately lead to more serious cases and more deaths as a result, noting that the CDC has not given an explanation for the changes. On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said in an email to the Associated Press that the changes were informed by “current evidence and the best public health interventions.”
President Trump has said on several occasions that extensive testing – seen by many public health officials as the key to controlling the virus – hurts him politically by looking at higher case numbers.
“I believe these changes in guidance have come from further down the chain and the federal government, from the White House,” Marty Fenstersheib, the test officer COVID-19 from Santa Clara County, said at Wednesday’s conference. ‘They are completely misdirected. Failure to test will not end this pandemic. Failure to test will not eliminate the virus. ”
According to Windows, no capacity is being tested in Santa Clara County. He said at Wednesday’s conference that the province had done a “great job” of increasing test capacity and that they now performed more than 6,000-8,000 tests a day.
“We have enough test sites on our website, the fairs have been open recently, we have the capacity to test more than 1000 per day, so folks, take advantage of the tests in this community,” he said.
Cody and Fenstersheib said Santa Clara County does not change any of its guidelines on coronavirus testing.
“We will continue to work with all of our healthcare partners to ensure that they offer testing to the groups that need it,” Cody said. “And we … will offer mass testing on various sites as often and as robustly as we can, as long as it lasts.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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