Tal Axelrod writes the director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said his agency’s guidance for reopening the country was “in draft form” and not ready to be released in the midst of reports that top administration officials decided to shelve the CDC’s recommendations.
“The re-opening guidance shared prematurely was in draft form and had not been vetted through the interagency review process,” CDC Director Robert Redfield said in a statement circulated by the White House. “This is an iterative effort to ensure effective, clear guidance is presented to the American people.”
“I had not seen a version of the guidance incorporating interagency and task force input and therefore was not yet comfortable releasing a final work product,” he added.
The remarks came after reports emerged that top officials at the White House made the decision not to disclose detailed advice from the CDC on reopening the country during the coronavirus pandemic.
The guidance from the CDC was intended to help guide religious leaders, business owners, educators, and state and local officials as they begin to reopen amid a spike in business closures and unemployment claims. It reportedly includes flowcharts meant to be used to consider alternate scenarios for reopening in an attempt to prevent a spike in coronavirus cases as restrictions are relaxed.