CDC's abrupt change to COVID-19 testing guidelines was evidently forced through while Dr. Fauci was unconscious in surgery

Dr. Fauci
(Image credit: KEVIN DIETSCH/AFP via Getty Images)

Health experts were left reeling this week by abrupt new guidance from the CDC that said not everyone exposed to COVID-19 necessarily needs to take a precautionary test if they aren't showing symptoms. There might be a reason, though, why the new recommendation "makes no sense" — White House Coronavirus Task Force member Dr. Anthony Fauci was literally unconscious when the decision was made.

"I was under general anesthesia in the operating room and was not part of any discussion or deliberation regarding the new testing recommendations," Fauci told CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. He added: "I am concerned about the interpretation of these recommendations and worried it will give people the incorrect assumption that asymptomatic spread is not of great concern. In fact it is."

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.