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Redfield says removed CDC document about how Covid-19 spreads was "not technically reviewed"
From CNN’s Amanda Watts
Alex Edelman/Pool/Getty ImagesDr. Robert Redfield, director at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the document posted and subsequently removed that explained how Covid-19 spreads was “not technically reviewed” before it was posted.
During the Senate Health Committee hearing on Wednesday, Redfield told Sen. Tim Kaine the difference between the two documents was about “the balance of the component that aerosolized transmission plays compared to droplet transmission.”
Referring to portions of document that were reverted back to older guidance, Kaine asked Redfield if it was accurate to say “people who are infected but do not show symptoms can spread the virus?”
Redfield replied, “absolutely they can.”
Again referring to the version that was taken down, Kaine noted the document said “there is growing evidence that droplets in airborne particles can remain suspended in the air and be breathed in by others, and travel distances beyond six feet, for example, during choir practice, in restaurants or in fitness classes.”
“Is that statement accurate?” Kaine asked.
“There’s definitely evidence of that,” Redfield said.
“There is going to be a technically reviewed document on this issue coming on the website,” Redfield said.
Fauci says Sen. Rand Paul has repeatedly misconstrued facts about the pandemic
From CNN's Nicky Robertson
Alex Edelman/Pool/Getty ImagesRepublican Sen. Rand Paul challenged Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, over whether coronavirus restrictions are effective in curbing the spread of the disease.
Fauci was quick to respond to Paul’s comparison of the US and Sweden’s response to curbing the virus, and Paul's suggestion that their death rate is lower because they had fewer restrictions. Fauci said it was inappropriate to compare the US and Sweden, and defended the US response.
“I don’t regret saying that the only way we could have really stopped the explosion of infection, was by essentially, when I say shutting down, I mean essentially having the physical separation and kind of recommendations that we made,” Fauci said.
The Kentucky lawmaker then went on to claim that Fauci was a “big fan of Cuomo and the shutdown in New York.”
Paul continued to push back against the infectious disease expert.
Fauci told the committee: “This happens with Sen. Rand all the time.”
He then spoke directly to Paul, saying, “you are not listening to what the director of the CDC said” about immunity rates in New York.
Paul tested positive for coronavirus in March.
Public can trust CDC guidelines despite multiple reversals, chief says
From CNN's Ali Main
Graeme Jennings/Pool/AFP/Getty ImagesDr. Robert Redfield, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, addressed recent reversals in his agency's guidance on both coronavirus testing and transmission on Wednesday, assuring lawmakers that the public can trust information from the nation's top health agency.
Redfield testified on Wednesday that the intent of a controversial revision in testing guidance was not to limit testing, but rather to "re-engage the medical and public health community" in the process "so that there was a public health action that happened as a consequence of every test."
On Aug. 26, the CDC altered its testing guidance to say some people without symptoms may not need to be tested, even if they've been in close contact with someone known to have the virus. CNN reported the sudden change came as a result of pressure from the upper ranks of the Trump administration, according to a federal health official close to the process.
Redfield put out a statement the next day, saying the agency was "placing an emphasis on testing individuals with symptomatic illness" and other vulnerable populations with the change.
Adm. Brett Giroir, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, concurred with Redfield that the guidance was "widely misinterpreted."
The agency rolled back this change on Friday, once again stressing that anyone who has been in contact with an infected person should be tested.
Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the committee, also pressed Redfield on the CDC's abrupt reversal on guidance about how coronavirus is transmitted in which it removed language about airborne transmission it had posted just days earlier.
"So here is my question to you, if I want the best guidance on the latest science so I can protect myself and my family, can I trust CDC's website to give me that information?" Murray asked.
"Yes," Redfield said, going on to emphasize his agency's commitment to providing Americans with the best public health recommendations possible.
We "need to be careful" about long-term effects Covid-19 might leave behind, Fauci warns
From CNN's Amanda Watts
Graeme Jennings/Pool/AFP/Getty ImagesDr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told lawmakers we “need to be careful” about what long-term effects Covid-19 might leave with people for the rest of their lives.
Fauci told the Senate Health Committee on Wednesday, that a recent study in non-athletes who have recovered from Covid-19, shows that in their MRIs “they found that about 60 to 70% of them had indication of inflammatory disease in the heart. Interestingly, they were relatively asymptomatic.”
“The other things is that they could wind up when you have inflammation, you could have scarring, that could lead to arrhythmias later on, or that could be lead that could lead to cardiomyopathies,” he explained.
“It’s something we really need to keep our eye out on.”
"More than 90% of the population remains susceptible" to Covid-19, CDC director says
From CNN Health’s Amanda Watts
Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, testifies during a US Senate Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing on Wednesday. Alex Edelman/Pool/AFP/Getty ImagesDr. Robert Redfield, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said a majority of Americans remain susceptible to Covid-19.
Speaking to the Senate Health Committee on Wednesday, Redfield said, “CDC is in the process of a very large, sequential study across the entire United States, measuring serology.”
“It varies in different geographic parts from states,” he said. “We’ll have that finalized and probably published in the next week or so.”
“But it does show that a majority of Americans are still susceptible to this virus,” Redfield said.
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FDA will not authorize vaccine that "we would not feel comfortable giving to our families," chief says
From CNN's Amanda Watts
PoolDr. Stephen Hahn, commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, on Wednesday made a commitment to America that “FDA will not authorize or approve a vaccine that we would not feel comfortable giving to our families.”
“FDA will not permit any pressure from anyone to change that,” he committed.
Hahn said he “will fight for science” and “will put the interest of the American people before anything else.”
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US is at "an inflection point" when it comes to testing, Trump's Covid-19 testing czar says
From CNN's Amanda Watts
PoolAdm. Brett Giroir, assistant secretary for health at the US Department of Health and Human Services, said the US has performed more than 106 million tests for Covid-19 since the pandemic began.
Speaking to members of the Senate Health Committee on Wednesday, Giroir said on 10 separate days, the US performed more than 1 million tests per day.
Giroir said we are now at an “inflection point” when it comes to testing.
“This month we will have available, on average, 3 million tests per day – nearly half of which will be rapid point of care,” he said.
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CDC head says young people are "major contributors to the spread of Covid-19"
PoolThe Director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Robert Redfield stressed that while young people may be less likely to become seriously ill from Covid-19, they can still spread the virus.
Redfield, speaking at a Senate hearing, said 18- to 25-year olds make up about 26% of new infections — more than any other group.
He urged all Americans regardless of age continue to follow the advice of health experts:
"Wear a mask, maintain social distance, practice routine hand washings with vigilance, be smart about crowds and stay home when you're feeling sick," he said.
"Long haulers" experience Covid-19 symptoms "weeks or months" after recovering from virus, Fauci says
From CNN's Aditi Sangal
PoolClinical observations show that Covid-19 affects certain individuals in a way that they can experience symptoms of the virus for weeks or months despite having virologically recovered, Dr. Anthony Fauci said during a Senate hearing on Wednesday.
These individuals are called 'long haulers,'" he said.
"A number of individuals, who virologically have recovered from infection, in fact, have persistence — measured in weeks to months — of symptomatology that does not appear to be due to persistence of the virus," he told the Senate committee.
These individuals have fatigue, myalgia, fever and involvement of the neurological system as well as cognitive abnormalities such as the inability to concentrate, Dr. Fauci further reported in his remarks.
Additionally, "a disturbing number of individuals" who have completely recovered and apparently are asymptomatic, are found to have "inflammation of the heart," when they have sensitive imaging technology such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging [MRI,] he said.
"These are the kind of things that tell us we must be humble, that we do not completely understand the nature of this illness," Dr. Fauci added.
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