In August, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was criticized for releasing guidance saying it wasn't necessary to test people without coronavirus symptoms who had been in close contact with an infected person for more than 15 minutes. Several people with knowledge of the matter told The New York Times this recommendation was not written by CDC scientists and was posted online over their strenuous objections.
A federal official told the Times "that was a doc that came from the top down," referring to the Department of Health and Human Services and the White House Coronavirus Task Force. "That policy does not reflect what many people at the CDC feel should be the policy." The document was "dropped" into the CDC's public website, bypassing the agency's scientific review process, and contained several "elementary errors," one official said.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A federal official with knowledge of the matter told the Times a new version of the testing guidance is expected to go up on the CDC's website on Friday, but this also hasn't undergone the agency's typical internal review for scientific documents, and Health and Human Services officials are now revising it. All of this comes as the CDC faces scrutiny over whether it is maintaining its independence amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed nearly 200,000 Americans. Read more at The New York Times.
-
Kim Ju Ae: North Korea’s next leader?The Explainer Kim Jong Un’s young daughter is being seen as his ‘recognised heir’ following a high-profile public appearance at China summit
-
Is the UK government getting too close to Big Tech?Today’s Big Question US-UK tech pact, supported by Nvidia and OpenAI, is part of Silicon Valley drive to 'lock in' American AI with US allies
-
Russia’s war games and the threat to NatoIn depth Incursion into Poland and Zapad 2025 exercises seen as a test for Europe
-
SpaceX breaks Starship losing streak in 10th testspeed read The Starship rocket's test flight was largely successful, deploying eight dummy satellites during its hour in space
-
Rabbits with 'horns' sighted across Coloradospeed read These creatures are infected with the 'mostly harmless' Shope papilloma virus
-
Lithium shows promise in Alzheimer's studySpeed Read Potential new treatments could use small amounts of the common metal
-
Scientists discover cause of massive sea star die-offSpeed Read A bacteria related to cholera has been found responsible for the deaths of more than 5 billion sea stars
-
'Thriving' ecosystem found 30,000 feet underseaSpeed Read Researchers discovered communities of creatures living in frigid, pitch-black waters under high pressure
-
New York plans first nuclear plant in 36 yearsSpeed Read The plant, to be constructed somewhere in upstate New York, will produce enough energy to power a million homes
-
Dehorning rhinos sharply cuts poaching, study findsSpeed Read The painless procedure may be an effective way to reduce the widespread poaching of rhinoceroses
-
Breakthrough gene-editing treatment saves babyspeed read KJ Muldoon was healed from a rare genetic condition
