© 2024 WSHU
NPR News & Classical Music
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
We received reports that some iPhone users with the latest version of iOS (v17.4) cannot play audio via the Grove Persistent Player.
While we work to fix the issue, we recommend downloading the WSHU app.

Connecticut Officials Question New CDC Guidelines Discouraging Testing Without Symptoms

Courtesy of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Connecticut Department of Public Health officials say they are looking into the science behind updated COVID-19 testing guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC updatedfederal testing guidelines on Monday to state that people without symptoms do not need to be tested. The New York Times reports the Trump administration handed down the changes.

Dr. Deidre Gifford is acting commissioner of Connecticut DPH.

“There’s something I want to comment on in that guidance, which said if you have a known exposure, but you don’t have symptoms, you don’t need to get tested. We strongly encourage those with a known exposure to get tested and to quarantine for 14 days,” she said.

U.S. Congresswoman Rosa Delauro of Connecticut says the CDC updates “fly in the face of science.”

Delauro said in a statement that the changes in testing recommendations are political, because countries that have been able to control the pandemic do test people without symptoms.

President Donald Trump has said too much testing creates more positive results that make the US look bad. Experts say the rate of infection is the number that matters.

Cassandra Basler, a former senior editor at WSHU, came to the station by way of Columbia Journalism School in New York City. When she's not reporting on wealth and poverty, she's writing about food and family.