Coronavirus: Trump administration 'shelved CDC guidance', instead offering looser restrictions amid pandemic

Donald Trump’s administration shelved guidance by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which offered more stringent measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic in the initial months of the outbreak, according to a report.

The 63-page document obtained by the Associated Press detailed recommendations from the centre for communities that may face a second wave of Covid-19 infections after states across the country begin to lift stay-at-home orders.

There are specific instructions for a national “reopening” strategy in the guidelines that would allow for states facing a resurgence of infections to implement restrictions and safety precautions, as part of an apparent effort to keep the nation’s hospital system within capacity.

However, the White House’s “Opening Up America Again” proposal did not include that guidance, instead allowing state governors and localities to take their own individual approaches to combatting the novel virus and reopening when they see fit.

While the administration’s proposal released on 17 April did include some portions of the plans, as the AP reported, it did not provide the specifics many states have called for from the White House to ensure a safe reopening process.

The White House reportedly shelved the guidance late last month, maintaining its own plan that allowed for a loosening of restrictions not offered in the CDC proposal.

Those easing of measures included things like nonessential travel, which the White House said could resume during Phase Two of its reopening plan after 28 consecutive days of decline. Meanwhile, the CDC proposal reportedly said all nonessential travel should be avoided until the final reopening phase.

At that point, the CDC plan still advised caution and said nonessential travel should only resume following 42 consecutive days of decline, according to the AP.

“Travel patterns within and between jurisdictions will impact efforts to reduce community transmission too,” the guidelines proposed by the CDC reportedly stated. “Coordination across state and local jurisdictions is critical — especially between jurisdictions with different mitigation needs.”

Democratic leadership has since called for the full report to be released by the CDC.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D—NY) said in a statement on Wednesday: “America needs and must have the candid guidance of our best scientists unfiltered, unedited, uncensored by president Trump or his political minions. The CDC report on reopening the country is an important piece of that guidance.”