By Carl O’Donnell
(Reuters) – Several primary U.S. states are ignoring new calls through federal fitness to reduce COVID-19 testing of some exposed to the virus, joining a broad rebuke from the Trump administration through public fitness.
Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Texas, New Jersey, and New York plan to continue testing asymptomatic Americans who have been exposed to COVID-19, despite new rules from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that suggest that such tests may not be necessary.
“Existing Texas rules propose testing all close contacts in a displayed case, as this allows for early identification of instances among others at increased risk of infection,” a Texas State Department of Health Services spokesman said in a statement. “There is no replacement planned at this stage.”
California and New York made similar statements. The Florida Department of Health said asymptomatic testing is being conducted while evaluating new CDC recommendations, and Texas also said it would conduct an evaluation.
The CDC said this week that other people exposed to COVID-19 but not symptomatic may not want to be tested, which surprised doctors and politicians and made accusations, the politically motivated recommendation.
Even before CDC guidelines, coronavirus tests in the United States had decreased. The United States assessed an average of 675,000 people a day last week, peaking in July of more than 800,000 people a day.
Nationally, cases have declined for five consecutive weeks, but infections are emerging in the Midwest of the U.S., and 4 states reported a record day of accumulation on Thursday when the death toll in the United States soared above 180,000.
In the past, the CDC had tested all other people who had close contact with a user diagnosed with COVID-19.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said New York State would adhere to the new rules and questioned the claim that politics plays no role in change.
“This 180-degree reversal of COVID-19 verification rules is reckless, science-based, and has the potential to damage (CDC’s) long-term reputation,” Cuomo said in a joint statement, along with the governors of New Jersey and Connecticut, who also said that his states would adhere to CDC rules.
Admiral Brett Giroir, undersecretary of fitness for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), said there is no political tension on the part of the administration. He said examining asymptomatic patients too soon can produce false negatives and contribute to the spread of the virus.
CNN and the New York Times reported Wednesday that U.S. public fitness was ordered through senior Trump administration officials to advance the changes.
CDC Director Robert Redfield issued on a Thursday that “anyone who wants a COVID-19 check can take a check,” but “not everyone who wants a check wants a check.”
Many countries around the world offer early testing. The World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday that if resources permit, other people exposed to the new coronavirus will be tested even if they show no immediate symptoms of infection.
European governments have used large-scale control and isolation of the virus. France, for example, recommends that anyone who thinks they want a check do so, and in Germany, other people in close contact with a user with COVID-19 are invited to take a check.
(Report through Carl O’Donnell; Additional report through Crispian Balmer in Rome, Matthias Blamont in Paris, Alistair Smout in London and Ludwig Burger in Frankfurt; edited through Peter Henderson and Lisa Shumaker)