THE CDC JUST MADE THIS "DANGEROUS" CHANGE TO ITS COVID GUIDELINES
THE CDC JUST MADE THIS "DANGEROUS" CHANGE TO ITS COVID GUIDELINES
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THE CDC JUST MADE THIS "DANGEROUS" CHANGE TO ITS COVID GUIDELINES
For months, health officials have urged as many people as possible to get tested for COVID-19, especially if they believe they were potentially exposed to someone with the virus. In fact, top advisors, including Anthony Fauci, MD, have said contact tracing and testing close contacts of positive cases is one of the most important ways to stop this pandemic from dragging on. But a sudden change to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) COVID guidelines is now shifting the agency's tone when it comes to coronavirus testing. The New York Times points out that the CDC quietly changed its testing guidelines to say that those without symptoms should not get tested—a move that doctors are calling "dangerous" given how asymptomatic patients are still likely to spread the virus.The change, which was made on August 24, explains that even those who were exposed to coronavirus should not seek testing if they do not feel ill. The testing guidelines now 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."Previously, the CDC's testing guidelines read that there were multiple "populations for which SARS-CoV-2 testing with viral tests (i.e., nucleic acid or antigen tests) is appropriate," including "asymptomatic individuals with recent known or suspected exposure to SARS-CoV-2 to control transmission" and "asymptomatic individuals without known or suspected exposure to SARS-CoV-2 for early identification in special settings."
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Experts responded by saying that this change flies in the face of previous precautionary testing to identify pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic patients, who could then self isolate before unknowingly spreading the virus to others."This is potentially dangerous," Krutika Kuppalli, MD, an infectious disease physician in Palo Alto, California, told The Times, highlighting the potential of missing possible carriers of