![CDC Backtracks on COVID Testing Guidelines](http://townsquare.media/site/182/files/2020/08/RS4131_165206026.jpg?w=980&q=75)
CDC Backtracks on COVID Testing Guidelines
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On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control quietly changed their tune on testing. According to the report from the Hill, they claimed that, "asymptomatic people do not need to be tested for coronavirus, even if they have been in close contact with an infected person." This was a pretty dramatic turn from the previous guidance, which basically was - if you think that you have been around anyone who has been infected with the Coronavirus, just get tested.
Now it looks like the CDC is crawfishing on that statement due to crushing criticism from the scientific and medical communities. Director Robert Redfield himself issued the reversal of Mondays advice. According to the report, Redfield said "Testing is meant to drive actions and achieve specific public health objectives. Everyone who needs a COVID-19 test, can get a test. Everyone who wants a test does not necessarily need a test; the key is to engage the needed public health community in the decision with the appropriate follow-up action,"
Outspoken public health officials were concerned that Monday's change in guidance didn't properly reflect the role asymptomatic carriers of the virus play in spreading the infection. Some even claimed that the revision had been handed down by political appointees outside of the CDC after it was revealed that the agency had coordinated Monday's change in advice with the White House Coronavirus task force.
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