Federal health officials have identified several controversial recommendations about coronavirus testing and school reopenings released during the Trump administration that it says were “not primarily authored” by staff of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and don’t reflect the best scientific evidence, based on a review ordered by its new director.
The review identified three documents that had already been removed from the agency’s website: One, released in July, delivered a strong argument for school reopenings and downplayed health risks. A second set of guidelines about the country’s reopening was released in April by the White House and was far less detailed than what had been drafted by CDC and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. A third guidance issued in August discouraged the testing of people without covid-19 symptoms even when they had contact with infected individuals. That was replaced in September after experts inside and outside the agency raised alarms.
CDC Director RochelleWalensky ordered the review as part of her pledge to restore public trust in the beleaguered agency,which had seen its recommendations watered down or ignored during the Trump administration to align with the former president’s efforts to downplay the severity of the pandemic.
“I am focused on moving CDC forward with science, transparency and clarity leading the way,” Walensky said in a statement Monday. “It is imperative for the American people to trust CDC. If they don’t, preventable illness and injury can occur — and, tragically, lives can and will be lost. This agency and its critical health information cannot be vulnerable to undue influence, and this report helps outline our path to rebuilding confidence and ensuring the information that CDC shares with the American people is based on sound science that will keep us, our loved ones, and our communities healthy and safe.”
The review was done “to ensure that all of CDC’s existing covid-19 guidance is evidence-based and free of politics,” according to a memo from the agency’s principal deputy director, Anne Schuchat. Schuchat conducted the review, which was posted on the agency’s website Monday. Officials said they are revamping all pandemic-related guidance to ensure that science and transparency are paramount.
The July school reopening guidance was controversial because it was released weeks after Trump criticized the agency’s earlier recommendations as being “very tough and expensive.” The opening preamble extolling the importance of in-school classes was presented as a CDC document, but the agency was not part of the discussion or drafting, Walensky said. That guidance was removed in October.
This “messaging” has created a tremendous amount of pressure, with many in the media parroting the CDC’s language to spread misinformation that it was ok to re-open prematurely, avoid testing, and bash teachers and their unions. It was obviously political but they did it anyway.
The CDC and every other public health agency has got a lot of work to do to re-establish credibility. And there needs to be a hard look at how political appointees are allowed to influence such agencies during an emergency. It’s clearly another one of those “norms” we assumed would apply. But we underestimated people’s willingness to spread disinformation and actually kill people for political purposes. Now we know.