Thread by @ASlavitt

BREAKING: In a very concerning statement, the ⁦@CDCgov⁩ now says people exposed to COVID-19 do not need to get tested.

This is incomprehensible at almost every level. Will report back after a couple convos. Follow if interested. apple.news/AReXfBQh9TPGjh…

As I go through these conversations I am trying really hard not to bring my biases into the conversation.

I will share what I know in 30 minutes right here.

In an hour, I have not been able to find one legitimate interpretation of what's been done.

So I will tell you what I think and others think: we will report much lower cases and soon report higher hospitalizations and deaths.

And it gets worse.

To review what the CDC did:
-They said asymptomatic people exposed to COVID no longer need to be tested
-They also said people who travel into the country or interstate from high prevelence areas should not be quarantined

Today we test about 10% of people infected and detect 3% of spread. That will get even worse. Counties will stop testing. Our visibility into the pandemic will decrease.
Super-spreaders will go undetected.

80% who get COVID don't know where they got it. 40% of people are asymptomatic, 1/2 of transmissions occur before symptoms occur. We do a poor job testing these people but Saliva Direct & other new innovations are designed to make that easier & cheaper.

So why did they do this? Here are some fragments:

-The CDC has historically has entirely career scientists with one exception, the Director. In the past, that was a public health expert.
-Trump has 5 political people inside the CDC which is unprecedented.

-The scientific answer is no longer the best answer.
-Koch Brothers' people have been involved in working with the White House on CDC guidelines-- on schools. I wouldn't be surprised if they had their hand at this too.

The political benefit for Trump to doing this I can imagine would be in his mind:
-Schools don't have sufficient tests. The cases requiring in person opening were lost. This could be a next move.
-Colleges: no reason to test, no reason not to let people travel in

-Travel is a driver in the economy. Quarantines prevent that. Also hotels. Who owns hotels?
-His base likes to see him bully the deep state. This isn't that disguised

You could think of 10 other possible reasons. I've had none of those verified. But here will be the tell...

Every time you hear someone point to this and say "The CDC said...", that is a clue.

The fact that you won't find a scientist to confirm this in some ways helps him. Here's how....

Yes 5 million people have been infected & know it. Let's say he's willing to give Biden those votes.

For everyone else, these are just restrictions from his point of view. If I don't feel sick, why should I have to do anything?

Make an enemy of the scientists? They're not supporting him anyway.

This isn't fascism. Its dangerous populism.

He's not running on the death toll. He couldn't compete. He's running on the stock market & the American way of life.

Motives here are speculation and frankly not even relevant. Whatever the reason, this is going to lead to more death & a more prolonged crisis.

If you haven’t. Listen to former @CDCgov director @DrTomFrieden.

This is the CDC and whether you can trust them.
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