Donald Trump has said, “with smaller testing we would show fewer cases!” Now he may get his wish. We don’t know if the tests will be “smaller” but there may be fewer of them thanks to a change the Centers for Disease Control made on their website today. The CDC now says:
If you have been in close contact (within 6 feet) of a person with a COVID-19 infection for at least 15 minutes but do not have symptoms: You do not necessarily need a test unless you are a vulnerable individual or your health care provider or State or local public health officials recommend you take one.
Previously the CDC said testing was recommended for people who had been exposed to coronavirus, even if they were asymptomatic.
Experts questioned the revision, pointing to the importance of identifying infections in the small window immediately before the onset of symptoms, when many individuals appear to be most contagious.
Models suggest that about half of transmission events can be traced back to individuals still in this so-called pre-symptomatic stage, before they start to feel ill — if they ever feel sick at all.
CNN reports that this “sudden change in federal guidelines on coronavirus testing came this week as a result of pressure from the upper ranks of the Trump administration.” CNN said a federal health official close to the process said, “It’s coming from the top down.”
The nation’s top infectious disease specialist, Dr. Anthony Fauci is also reacting negatively to this news. He told CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
“I was under general anesthesia in the operating room and was not part of any discussion or deliberation regarding the new testing recommendations… 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.”