CDC pressured by White House to change COVID-19 testing guidelines: Report

US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced a controversial change in its COVID-19 testing guidelines earlier this week, which doesn’t mandate testing for people without symptoms. The change was reportedly made after pressure from higher echelons of the Trump administration and the deliberations took place in the absence of White House coronavirus task force member Dr Anthony Fauci.

The updated CDC guidelines were published on August 24 which said that people who had been in close contact with a COVID-19 patient “do not necessarily need a test” if they do not display symptoms. CDC Director Dr Robert Redfield said in a statement that the changes to the testing guidelines reflected “updated recommendations” from the White House coronavirus task force.

Dr Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, has been at loggerheads with Trump over his statements related to virus response. Recently, he called the White House effort to discredit him "bizarre" and urged an end to the divisiveness over the country's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, saying "let's stop this nonsense."

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US President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that the coronavirus cases in the United States are highest in the world because of greater testing, trying to wash his hands of the failed COVID-19 response. The United States has reported over 5.8 million coronavirus cases and more than 179,000 related deaths so far, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.

Criticism of the move

Several Democrats questioned this move and wondered whether it was in line with Trump’s strategy. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said that the reversal of COVID-19 testing strategy is not based on science but on politics, calling the decision “indefensible”. Taking to Twitter, Cuomo said that the administration is following the “denial” strategy to show fewer cases of coronavirus. He added that politics is dangerous to public health.

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