The states not adhering to the new CDC guidance include Texas, Oklahoma and Arizona
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the main agency in the US responsible for disease prevention, had last week announced that testing may not be necessary for all people exposed to COVID-19.
The guidance issued by the CDC on August 24 is being spurned by a majority of states, Reuters reported on Sunday.
“At least 33 states continue to recommend testing people who have been exposed to COVID-19 and have no symptoms,” Reuters reported, adding 16 states had not responded to its questions.
The states not adhering to the new CDC guidance include Texas, Oklahoma and Arizona, which are considered to be Republican leaning.
“Public health experts said a rupture of this magnitude with the CDC may be unprecedented and shows deepening distrust of the Trump administration and its response to the pandemic,” Reuters reported.
The CDC guidance on Monday noted that “people exposed to COVID-19 but not symptomatic ‘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.'”
Admiral Brett Giroir, the assistant secretary for health, told Reuters the new CDC guidance, “places emphasis on testing individuals with symptoms of COVID-19, those with significant exposure, and vulnerable populations, which includes asymptomatic individuals that local public health officials choose to prioritise for testing.”
Giroir had earlier said, “testing asymptomatic patients too early could produce false negatives and contribute to the virus’s spread”.
The governors of New York, Connecticut and New Jersey issued a joint statement, rejecting the CDC guidance. “This 180-degree reversal of COVID-19 testing guidelines is reckless, and not based on science and has the potential to do long-term damage to the (CDC’s) reputation,” the statement said.
The number of COVID-19 tests in the US has fallen in the past month. “The United States tested on average 675,000 people a day last week, down from a peak of more than 800,000 people a day in late July,” Reuters reported.
While COVID-19 cases have fallen for five weeks in a row across the US, midwestern states have shown a surge in recent days.❐
