CDC discards controversial test advice that caused repulsion

U.S. health officials have dropped the controversial coronavirus guidance and told all people in close contact with infected people to be tested.

New York-USA health Authorities dropped the controversial part on Friday Coronavirus He said that anyone who is in close contact with the guidance and the infected should take the test.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention basically went back to the previous test guidance and eliminated the word posted last month that you don’t need to take the test if you don’t feel sick. That change caused a surge in criticism health Experts who could not understand why the country’s top public health service said such a thing in a pandemic.

Dr. Sylvia Chang, a pediatric infectious disease expert at Brown University, praised the changes announced on Friday and said they were “inconsistent with the basic principles of controlling the epidemic.”

The CDC states that you should take the test if you are within 6 feet of the infected person for at least 15 minutes. In a statement, authorities called the change the “clarification” needed “due to the importance of asymptomatic and presymptomatic infections.”

Authorities declined additional comments.

Health officials were evasive about why they made the change in August, and some outside observers speculated that it was forced by the CDC by political appointees within the Trump administration.

At the time, government officials said the language originated at the CDC, but the decision came from a meeting of the White House Coronavirus Commission. Dr. Brett Guilloir, Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services, said many federal leaders outside government agencies were involved in “a lot of editing, a lot of input.” He said it is difficult to attribute the final language to a single source.

Citing internal federal documents and unnamed sources, the New York Times reported Thursday that guidance was posted on the CDC’s website regarding the institution’s scientists’ objections.

Public health experts say that testing the contact of infected people is a central element of efforts to keep the outbreak under control, and that the majority of people infected with the coronavirus do not show COVID-19 symptoms. I pointed out.

Shortly after the controversy broke out, CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield issued a statement that did little to clarify why it was thought that changes were needed. The main purpose is to advise state health officials that they can continue to recommend testing all close contacts if they feel they are the wisest, despite the website language saying they are not needed. It seemed to be a guarantee.

During the US Senate hearing on Wednesday, Redfield continued to defend the language dropped on Friday. He said the changes in August were “misunderstood” and are part of efforts to increase the involvement of physicians and local health authorities in the treatment of potential disease clusters.

Adrian Casalotti, a national association of county and city health authorities, said the deleted guidance caused public turmoil. She said local health officials spent a lot of time answering questions about whether people should be tested “rather than actually doing it.”

Dr. Richard Besser, chief executive of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, said he believed the August changes were made to give governors “room for wiggles” who didn’t want to increase their testing.

The entire episode is disturbing because it makes it difficult for the public to understand why the CDC makes recommendations and whether they can trust their advice. Influenza pandemic.

Besser said the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration should be considered a reliable source of scientific information as they are preparing for a national coronavirus vaccination campaign.

“If you can’t believe it, even if you have a safe and effective vaccine, most of the population won’t want to get it,” he said.

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