Trump administration rejects CDC’s reopening guide and scientists told it will ‘never see light of day’
THE TRUMP administration has shelved comprehensive guidelines from the CDC detailing how businesses can reopen cautiously to minimize more outbreaks of coronavirus cases.
The 17 page-long report “Guidance for Implementing the Opening Up America Again Framework,” was researched and written to help faith leaders, business owners, educators and state and local officials as they begin to reopen, AP reports.
The document was due to be published last Friday but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientists were told “the guidance “would never see the light of day,” according to a CDC official who spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity.
The guidance contained detailed advice for making site-specific decisions related to reopening schools, restaurants, summer camps, churches, day care centers and other institutions.
For example, the report suggested restaurants and bars should install sneeze guards at cash registers and avoid having buffets, salad bars and drink stations.
The news comes as it was revealed states are reopening without following the White House’s guidelines, as laid out in the “Opening Up America Again” document, which says areas should have a 14 day continuous decline in cases before lifting restrictions.
The guidelines also state hospitals should not be overwhelmed and robust testing should be in place for health care workers and others.
One of the studies the Trump administration is relying on warns individual counties could witness as many as 1,000 more coronavirus a day if officials move too quickly to reopen in May.
Just two weeks more social distancing could potentially prevent hundreds of thousands more new cases, the study predicts, according to the Daily Beast.
However swathes of areas across America are already getting back in business, with many more governors announcing plans to reopen and lift stay at home orders.
States that have not seen a decline in cases, yet continue to press forward with reopening their economies include Georgia, Colorado, Alabama and Texas.
Even California’s usually cautious governor has announced some non-essential businesses can open again, despite not seeing a 14 day continuous decline in cases.
Gavin Newsom is permitting stores selling clothing, book, music, toys, sporting goods and flowers to serve customers, and some beaches may reopen for recreational activity, following widespread protests in the state.
In Arizona, the state’s modeling team was ordered to stop its work on projection modeling, after the team of university experts predicted the virus had not yet peaked in the state – as the governor started to ease restrictions.
The universities’ models had shown that the only way to avoid a dramatic spike in cases was to delay lifting restrictions until the end of May.
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Barber shops, hair salons and restaurants will be reopening in the next week.
In Atlanta, Georgia, a Sun exclusive revealed doctors were being sent back to work to perform elective – meaning non-essential – surgeries, even as the medics warned they did not have adequate PPE, and would be putting themselves and their patients at risk.
The state reported nearly 1,000 new COVID-19 cases in a 24 hour window following the restrictions being eased, while deaths have been predicted to continue to rise as Georgia gets back to normal.
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