CDC Reverses Unreviewed Testing Guidelines Imported From Health And Human Services

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reversed controversial guidelines that minimized the need for testing. The guidelines had been posted to the CDC website without undergoing standard review procedures.

The New York Times reported Thursday that the document, which suggested that even people who had been in contact with infected persons “do not necessarily need a test,” had been published under the CDC banner by officials from the Department of Health and Human Services. The HHS revisions contained inaccuracies such as saying “testing for COVID-19” instead of for the virus that causes it. Another document published on the CDC site by HHS in July entitled “The Importance Of Opening Schools” lacked the clinical tone of scientifically reviewed CDC releases.

The interference drew criticism from medical professionals. Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, who directed the CDC under Obama, told the Times that, “HHS and the White House writing scientifically inaccurate statements such as ‘don’t test all contacts’ on CDC’s website is like someone vandalizing a national monument with graffiti.”

The Infectious Disease Society of America released a statement criticizing the move as well, saying, “As a nation our goal should be to expand testing capacity to allow for testing of all recommended individuals, including asymptomatic people who have been exposed. It is essential that public health guidelines be rooted in the best available scientific evidence. Testing asymptomatic individuals who have been exposed to a person with COVID-19 remains a critical evidence-based strategy for containing the pandemic and reducing transmission."

The document has been revised again to reflect the CDC’s original guidelines. It reads, “Due to the significance of asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmission, this guidance further reinforces the need to test asymptomatic persons, including close contacts of a person with documented SARS-CoV-2 infection.”

Scott Becker, chief executive at the Association of Public Health Laboratories, told the Times, "It’s good to see science and evidence taking a front seat for a change.”