Report: Feds Rejected CDC's Guide to Reopening US

Officials were told it would 'never see the light of day'
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted May 7, 2020 4:47 AM CDT
Report: Feds Shelved CDC Guides to Reopening Country
This photo provided by US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows CDC's laboratory test kit for the new coronavirus.   (CDC via AP, File)

A set of detailed documents created by the nation's top disease investigators meant to give step-by-step advice to local leaders deciding when and how to reopen public places such as mass transit, day care centers, and restaurants during the still-raging pandemic has been shelved by the Trump administration, the AP reports. The 17-page report by a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention team, titled "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. It was supposed to be published last Friday, but agency scientists were told the guidance "would never see the light of day," according to a CDC official.

The official was not authorized to talk to reporters and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity. The rejected reopening guidance was described by one of the federal officials as a touchstone document that was to be used as a blueprint for other groups inside the CDC who are creating the same type of instructional materials for other facilities. A person close to the White House's coronavirus task force said the CDC documents were never cleared by CDC leadership for public release. The person said that White House officials don't want to offer detailed guidance for how specific sectors can reopen, calling it a “slippery slope" because the virus is affecting various parts of the country differently.

(More coronavirus stories.)

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