The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has quietly issued a dramatic reversal on coronavirus testing guidelines, and after experts warned the new policy “will kill,” a federal health official says the nation’s top health agency was pressured “from the top” of the upper ranks of the Trump administration.
“It’s coming from the top down,” a federal health official told CNN.
The new guidelines say even after close contact with someone who has been infected with the coronavirus testing is “not necessarily” needed, and the decision to test or not should be made by a medical professional.
“If you have been in close contact (within 6 feet) of a person with a COVID-19 infection for at least 15 minutes but do not have symptoms,” the CDC’s updated guidance now says, “You do not necessarily need a test unless you are a vulnerable individual or your health care provider or State or local public health officials recommend you take one.”
President Donald Trump has been adamant that more tests mean more cases of coronavirus, which is not only illogical but plainly a lie.
Yale University Professor of Epidemiology Alison Galvani, who is also Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Modeling and Analysis says “This change in policy will kill.”