April 10th 2020

By Mark Sumner

Daily Kos

BuzzFlash Update: Since this commentary was written, NPR reports that the CDC has indeed issued these new “guidelines,” which will result in the increased infection and likely deaths of more essential workers. NPR reports that “critical infrastructure roles can return to work after being exposed to a confirmed or suspected case of the coronavirus” without quarantining for 14 days. These revised “guidelines” will result in new outbreaks of the Coronavirus, with resulting infections and deaths. It is a sign of how dangerous Trump’s obsession with “re-opening” the economy presents, as he puts American lives recklessly at risk.

Original Commentary:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has now taken down language that pushed doctors to prescribe an unproven drug after a chorus of complaints from health professionals, and warnings that they were causing active harm. But that doesn’t seem to mean that the CDC under Trump worshiper Robert Redfield is ready to grow up and act like the CDC. Instead, it seems prepared to start spreading language much more harmful than just pushing a drug that makes money for Trump.

Multiple sources are reporting that the CDC is looking at language that will relax guidelines for those who know they have been exposed to someone with COVID-19. The new proposal would encourage people to return to work so long as they are asymptomatic—which means that the CDC is directly encouraging the behavior responsible for 80% of all cases of COVID-19.

As NBC reports, the current guidance calls for those who know they have been exposed to the novel coronavirus to practice self-isolation. But under the new guidelines, these same people would be sent right back to work even if they had direct contact with someone confirmed to have COVID-19, so long as they are asymptomatic and not running a fever. 

This draft proposal has apparently not been finalized, but it certainly fits with the way both Donald Trump and Fox News have been pumping a reduced number on the University of Washington IHME model as if it’s proof that America is over the hump and on the mend. Trump is not only shouting about a “light at the end of the tunnel,” he’s also using his daily press events to talk about “stabilization” and to talk about reducing the social distancing guidelines.

In discussions on the Today program on Wednesday morning, Dr. Deborah Birx all but stated that those guidelines were not going to be renewed at the end of the month, and conservative “newsman” Brit Hume has openly pondered whether the rules were needed in the first place.

So the CDC seems prepared to send asymptomatic workers back to work even though a study from China indicated just last week that 80% of all COVID-19 cases were spread by those who had few or no symptoms. The reason for this is exactly the kind of behavior that the CDC seems to be set to encourage: those who felt fine took fewer precautions about being around others, so they were much more likely to act as vectors in spreading the disease to others.

The CDC has already given proposed guidance to allow front-line medical workers to return to the job after exposure. Considering the difficult conditions at hospitals in the areas most under assault from COVID-19, relaxing the guidelines to allow doctors and nurses to get back on the line might be understandable. But general guidelines that say those with a known exposure can leave isolation not only promotes the kind of spread demonstrated in China—it’s the exact opposite of the tactics that proved successful in South Korea and elsewhere.

Posted with permission