Tag: CDC

CDC considering recommending general public wear face coverings in public

Washington Post logoShould we all be wearing masks? That simple question is under review by officials in the U.S. government and has sparked a grass-roots pro-mask movement. But there’s still no consensus on whether widespread use of facial coverings would make a significant difference, and some infectious disease experts worry that masks could lull people into a false sense of security and make them less disciplined about social distancing.

In recent days, more people have taken to covering their faces, although it remains a scattershot strategy driven by personal choice. The government does not recommend it.

That may change. Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are considering altering the official guidance to encourage people to take measures to cover their faces amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to a federal official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it is an ongoing matter of internal discussion and nothing has been finalized. Continue reading. Free article.

Internal Emails Show How CDC Chaos Slowed Coronavirus Response

On Feb. 13, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sent out an email with what the author described as an “URGENT” call for help.

The agency was struggling with one of its most important duties: keeping track of Americans suspected of having the novel coronavirus. It had “an ongoing issue” with organizing — and sometimes flat-out losing — forms sent by local agencies about people thought to be infected. The email listed job postings for people who could track or retrieve this paperwork.

“Help needed urgently,” the CDC wrote. Continue reading.

EXCLUSIVE: Top CDC official warns New York’s coronavirus outbreak is just a preview

The Hill logoAmerican health officials are deeply concerned that the coronavirus outbreak that has overwhelmed New York City hospitals in recent days is just the first in a wave of local outbreaks likely to strike cities across the country in the coming weeks.

In an exclusive interview, Dr. Anne Schuchat, the principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said her agency is seeing early signs that the number of cases in other cities are already beginning to spike. While New York City is home to almost half the cases in the country at the moment, other cities are seeing their case counts rising at alarming rates.

“We’re looking at our flu syndromic data, our respiratory illness that presents at emergency departments. Across the country there’s a number of areas that are escalating. The numbers in New York are so large that they show up, but we’re looking at increases over time and we’re really seeing some in a number of places. It would be surprising to me based on what I’ve seen about how this virus spreads if it were not going to increase in many other parts of the country,” Schuchat said. Continue reading.

OAN correspondent goes ‘full Q in the briefing room’ — tells Trump the media has ‘teamed up’ with foreign state propaganda

AlterNet logoThe White House press briefing room this week implemented a temporary seating chart to accommodate the Center for Disease Control and Preventions’s social distancing guidelines, but Donald Trump’s staff still managed to carve out space for One America News Network, the far-right network known for it’s pro-Trump content. And on Thursday, that network’s correspondent, Chanel Rion used her hard-hitting journalistic chops to ask the president whether he considers the term “Chinese food”  racist, and rant against the “left-wing media” that “consistently [sides] with foreign state propaganda” just to oppose Trump.

No summary can do Rion’s question justice, so here she is in her own words: Continue reading “OAN correspondent goes ‘full Q in the briefing room’ — tells Trump the media has ‘teamed up’ with foreign state propaganda”

CDC, the top U.S. public health agency, is sidelined during coronavirus pandemic

Washington Post logoAs the United States enters a critical phase in fighting the coronavirus pandemic, the country’s leading public health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, appears to be on the sidelines, with its messages increasingly disrupted or overtaken by the White House.

Neither CDC Director Robert Redfield nor Anne Schuchat — the principal deputy director who has played key roles in the agency’s emergency responses stretching back two decades, including the 2009 influenza pandemic — have appeared on the podium during White House briefings by the coronavirus task force for more than a week.

Redfield did join a smaller briefing Wednesday afternoon, for the first time since March 9. He and three other task force members stood with President Trump and Vice President Pence for the day’s second task force appearance. The event, which lasted seven minutes, followed a task force meeting with nurses groups, according to the White House. Trump and Pence were the only ones who spoke, and they took no questions. Continue reading

CDC suggests nurses use bandanas, scarves during face mask shortage

CDC acknowledges recommendations are out of step with U.S. standards of care

As the national shortage of face masks becomes severe, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says nurses can use bandanas and scarves as makeshift masks when caring for COVID-19 patients — although it’s unclear whether they would protect medical workers.

The CDC says that option should be used “as a last resort” and only when the hospital nearly depletes its supply and experiences a crush of COVID-19 patients, reaching “crisis capacity.” The CDC acknowledges that its recommendations are out of step with standards of care in the United States.

[Hospitals want to kill a policy shielding nurses from COVID-19 because there aren’t enough masks]

Nurses and other health care providers can “use homemade masks (e.g., bandana, scarf) for care of patients with COVID-19,” the CDC website now reads. The agency says in the next sentence that the homemade masks’ capability to protect health care providers against the coronavirus-caused disease “is unknown.” Continue reading.

CDC recommends suspending large events for 8 weeks

It is a dramatic escalation over previous recommendations.

The CDC on Sunday recommended canceling or postponing all events nationwide with more than 50 people — the most aggressive federal guidance issued yet in the worsening the coronavirus crisis.

The new guidelines on mass gatherings apply for the next eight weeks, the CDC said, and exclude schools, higher education institutions and businesses. The agency also specified that the guidelines would not take precedence over rules imposed by individual states.

“This recommendation is made in an attempt to reduce introduction of the virus into new communities and to slow the spread of infection in communities already affected by the virus,” the CDC said. The agency cited conferences, parades and weddings as examples of large gatherings. Continue reading.

Trump is breaking every rule in the CDC’s 450-page playbook for health crisis

Washington Post logoThe communication chaos on coronavirus is eroding the most powerful weapon we have: Public trust

Amid an outbreak where vaccines, drug treatments and even sufficient testing don’t yet exist, communication that is delivered early, accurately and credibly is the strongest medicine in the government’s arsenal.

But the Trump administration’s zigzagging, defensive, inconsistent messages about the novel coronavirus continued Friday, breaking almost every rule in the book and eroding the most powerful weapon officials possess: Public trust.

After disastrous communications during the 2001 anthrax attacks — when white powder in envelopes sparked widespread panic — the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention created a 450-page manual outlining how U.S. leaders should talk to the public during crises. Continue reading.

Anthony Fauci undercuts Trump on the flu and other coronavirus assertions

Washington Post logoMidway through a hearing Wednesday on Capitol Hill, a House Republican asked Anthony Fauci, a member of the president’s coronavirus task force, if he was offended by the idea that he could be prevented from speaking openly about the coronavirus by the Trump administration.

“With all due respect,” Fauci said, “I served six presidents and have never done anything other than tell the exact scientific evidence and made policy recommendations based on the science and the evidence.”

The rest of his testimony reinforced that Fauci isn’t exactly toeing anybody’s line. Over and over again, he differed with President Trump’s talking points that play down the threat posed by the novel coronavirus, and he even differed with decisions Trump has made. Continue reading.

Hearing on coronavirus ends abruptly as White House tells experts to come to ’emergency meeting’

AlterNet logoOn Wednesday morning, medical experts, including National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Dr. Anthony Fauci and the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Robert Redfield, were testifying before the House Oversight Committee on what to expect from the coronavirus epidemic in the United States. According to Fauci, “The bottom line: It is going to get worse.” Again and again, the information provided in the hearing completely contradicted the rosy statements that have been coming from Donald Trump and other White House officials and warned of a dire situation ahead.

But before the House could learn too many details, the hearing ended in an abrupt and astounding manner, as the witnesses simply got up and left. At 11:30 ET, Oversight Committee Chair Rep. Carolyn Maloney was told that the witnesses had to depart. In an attempt to explain what was happening, Fauci said they were going to an “emergency meeting” at the White House. Then, to add extra confusion, the White House immediately claimed that the meeting was not an emergency … it was just something that Fauci and Redfield didn’t know about and that was so urgent that they had to leave in the middle of congressional testimony.

On Tuesday, Trump appeared before the nation and assured everyone, “It will go away, just stay calm.” But before his testimony was cut off, Dr. Fauci made a number of statements that were exactly counter to everything that Trump, Mike Pence, and the whole galaxy of Fox News surrogates have been trying to pass off on the nation. Continue reading.