Vital coronavirus data disappears immediately after Trump administration removes CDC control

Vital data showing whether US hospitals have the resources to deal with the coronavirus pandemic has already faded from a government website after the Trump administration quietly shifted responsibility for the statistics to another department. .

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has compiled and published figures that track the prevalence of free beds in hospitals and intensive care, and the number of healthcare workers, ventilators, and personal protective equipment available in the US Of the pandemic.

But on Wednesday, it was reported that hospitals had been told that they should now send their daily data, not to the CDC, but to a private company in Pittsburgh called TeleTracking Technologies, and that the information would be released by the parent agency of the CDC, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Trump administration officials, who have tried to blame CDC for the severity of the Covid-19 crisis, insisted that the move was only intended to ensure a faster and more “streamlined” report of the data. , citing delays of a week. A HHS spokesman later claimed that his agency would provide “more powerful ideas” than CDC’s “inadequate” operation.

While most acknowledged that CDC needed a review and would still have access to the data, some analysts and former top officials expressed concern that the move could result in less transparency. They appear to have been proven correct.

On Tuesday, even before the change was publicly announced, data trackers noted that all the information had disappeared from the CDC website.

“We were surprised because the modules we usually go to were empty,” Ryan Panchadsaram, who regularly uses data from the Covid Exit Strategy website, told CNBC. “The data was not available and was not there. There was no warning.

By Thursday, data on the capacity of the hospital bed was once again displayed on the CDC site, and HHS acknowledged that it had been temporarily removed.

“Yes, HHS is committed to being transparent with the American public about the information it is collecting about the coronavirus,” HHS spokesman Michael Caputo said in a statement given to CNBC.

“Therefore, HHS ordered CDC to reinstate the coronavirus panels it removed from the public on Wednesday.”

However, a notice along with the data on the CDC National Health Safety Network website stated: “This file will not be updated after July 14, 2020 and includes data from April 1 to April 14. July”.

Some accused the Trump administration of trying to hide available data from the public.

“You can’t sweep this under the rug. You can’t hide the facts, “New York Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer tweeted in response to the news.

“More than 130,000 Americans have died from Covid-19. President Trump: Work to fight this virus and stop trying to undermine public health experts. “

The CDC, which will still collect data on the number of cases and deaths across the United States, has historically been the leading collector and provider of information during health crises.

While most experts agree that CDC’s data collection system is struggling, some suggested that efforts should be directed to shore up the system, rather than transferring control to another government agency entirely.

However, CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said the change will allow him to focus on collecting other data, such as nursing home information, adding that CDC will still have access to the information.

But Gregory Koblentz, a biodefense expert at George Mason University, said the change appears to be consistent with recent efforts by the Trump administration to leave the agency in its typical role as the public’s primary source of information.

“We know that the administration has been trying to silence the CDC,” he told The Associated Press. “It now appears that the administration may be trying to blind CDC as well.”