The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have adjusted guidance for individuals exposed to or infected with COVID-19, relaxing rules and focusing on individual risk management. The CDC has also admitted error in its COVID-19 response and announced a restructuring for federal responses to future contagion outbreaks.
In Arizona, cases are on the decline, with 12,244 new cases reported since last week. However, deaths are still on the rise with 81 new deaths, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) COVID-19 data dashboard.
Arizona Public Media (cool map) notes that several counties have now downgraded to low community transmission by the CDC. Puma and Cochise counties were downgraded and now join Coconino, Maricopa and Yavapai counties. Apache, La Paz, Mohave, Navajo and Yuma counties all remain high.
The CDC has revised guidance for individuals exposed to or infected with COVID-19. The new guidance lifts the quarantine requirement and relieves screening for people with no symptoms. It also removes the recommendation for test-to-stay protocols in schools following potential exposure, according to NPR. From the CDC Field Epidemiology and Prevention Branch Chief Greta Massetti, PhD, MPH:
This guidance acknowledges that the pandemic is not over, but also helps us move to a point where COVID-19 no longer severely disrupts our daily lives. We know that COVID-19 is here to stay.
In the CDC press release, the agency stated that the updated guidance is intended to apply to community settings. The agency also intends to produce stand-alone guidance documents for those in healthcare settings, congregate settings and for settings with higher risk of transmission. See more in the Summary of Guidance from the CDC.
On Wednesday, CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, called her agency to task and outlined a broad plan to restructure the CDC to prioritize public health needs in an effort to curb continuing outbreaks. According to the New York Times, the overhaul came from an external review ordered by Walensky in April following months of criticism of the CDC’s response to the pandemic. A briefing document provided by the agency stated that public guidance has been “confusing and overwhelming.”
From Dr. Walensky:
For 75 years, the CDC and public health have been preparing for COVID-19, and in our big moment, our performance did not reliably meet expectations. My goal is a new, public health, action-oriented culture at CDC that emphasizes accountability, collaboration, communication and timeliness.
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