The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its coronavirus testing guidelines to remove the recommendation that anyone who has had close contact with an infected person get tested, even if they don't present symptoms.
The CDC website previously read: "Testing is recommended for all close contacts of persons with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Because of the potential for asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmission, it is important that contacts of individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infection be quickly identified and tested."
On Monday, the site was updated to read: "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."
"I'm concerned that these recommendations suggest someone who has had substantial exposure to a person with Covid-19 now doesn't need to get tested," Dr. Leana Wen, public health professor at George Washington University and former Baltimore health commissioner, told CNN, adding that asymptomatic people who have been exposed to the coronavirus "are exactly the people who should be tested."
Wen said, "This is key to contact tracing, especially given that up to 50% of all transmission is due to people who do not have symptoms. One wonders why these guidelines were changed — is it to justify continued deficit of testing?"
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services told CNN, "The updated guidance does not undermine contact tracing or any other types of surveillance testing."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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