CDC Quietly Changes COVID-19 Guidelines: Now Says Testing Not Needed For Those Not Showing Symptoms
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has quietly issued new guidelines for who should get COVID-19 tests.
The agency no longer recommends testing for most people without symptoms, even if they've been in close contact with someone known to have the virus.
It kind of goes back to how testing looked in the spring, when people couldn't really get one unless they were part of a high-risk category or had symptoms.
The CDC's language, quietly updated this week, says you do not necessarily need to get a test if you're not showing symptoms, despite known exposure.
The reason for the change is yet unknown.
The New York Times spoke with some doctors who are pretty concerned about this decision. They feel that the situation will get worse if the health industry stops looking for people who are unknowingly spreading the disease.
By the CDC's own estimates, 40 percent of people who have COVID-19 are asymptomatic, a number that can't be refuted unless more people without symptoms get tested.
Without the CDC giving context, the public is left to look at this any of a dozen ways.
One could argue that fewer tests makes it look like America has fewer positive cases. Perhaps health experts want to see what testing availability looks like as students and faculty go back to school, and as hospitals prepare for a potential fall spike.