Scientists may be winning this round
Controversial CDC testing guidelines updated again, this time conforming to public health experts' recommendations. Canada, other countries keep the "go away" sign for US travelers on.
Here are COVID-19 stories worth attention for today.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reversed questionable guidelines published in August that discouraged testing for people with possible COVID-19 exposure but no symptoms, calling the update a “clarification.” The guidelines now say: “Due to the significance of asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmission, this guidance further reinforces the need to test asymptomatic persons, including close contacts of a person with documented SARS-CoV-2 infection.”
On Thursday, the New York Times reported that those guidelines, which contradicted nearly every public health expert, were published on the CDC website without CDC scientific review. The bottom line: If you have likely been exposed to the novel coronavirus, you probably should get tested for it.
Meanwhile, the CDC forecasts that the US death toll attributed to COVID-19 may reach 218,000 in the next four weeks. The University of Washington IHME model predicts the number will grow to 221,000 by October 10. As of today, 197,946 Americans have died of confirmed COVID-19, according to the Johns Hopkins tracker.
Traveling safely: Southwest Airlines extended its pledge to keep middle seats open through Nov. 30. Delta has extended its pledge through the holidays, until January 6, 2021. American and United are not promising open middle seats. And Americans cannot cross the border with Canada until late October - at the earliest, with November more likely.
The COVID-19 tests that the state of Maryland bought from South Korea appear to have a high rate of false positives, the Baltimore Sun reports.
The New York Times reported Friday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reversed the questionable guidelines published in August that discouraged testing for people with possible COVID-19 exposure but no symptoms. On Thursday, the Times reported that those guidelines, which contradicted nearly every public health expert, were published on the CDC website without CDC scientific review. The bottom line: If you have likely been exposed to the novel coronavirus, you probably should get tested for it.
Meanwhile, the CDC forecasts that the US death toll attributed to COVID-19 may reach 218,000 in the next four weeks. The University of Washington IHME model predicts the number will grow to 221,000 by October 10. As of today, 197,946 Americans have died of confirmed COVID-19, according to the Johns Hopkins tracker.
Traveling safely: Southwest Airlines extended its pledge to keep middle seats open through Nov. 30. Delta has extended its pledge through the holidays, until January 6, 2021. American and United are not promising open middle seats. And Americans cannot cross the border with Canada until late October - at the earliest, with November more likely.
The COVID-19 tests that the state of Maryland bought from South Korea appear to have a high rate of false positives, the Baltimore Sun reports.
An issue bubbling up is whether tests are needlessly detecting people who have very low viral loads. Although these people may be technically “infected” with the virus that causes COVID-19, they may have too little virus to pose a significant risk. There already are some mainstream as well as anti-restriction activists jumping on this.
There also is emerging science that suggests low-level exposure — such as exposure that is partly blocked by a cloth or other face covering, could be enough to trigger an immune response but not enough to make a person sick. This is the subject of ongoing research — it’s definitely not established yet. In other words, please don’t go out and get exposed to C19 deliberately!
