Former CDC Heads: Trump Administration Risking Lives By Politicizing Science
Four former heads of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s administration is needlessly risking lives by undermining science and public health officials.
In an op-ed published in The Washington Post, former CDC Directors Tom Frieden, Jeffrey Koplan and David Satcher, as well as former acting CDC Director Richard Besser, excoriated administration officials for taking “political potshots” at scientists during the coronavirus pandemic.
“As America begins the formidable task of getting our kids back to school and all of us back to work safely amid a pandemic that is only getting worse, public health experts face two opponents: covid-19, but also political leaders and others attempting to undermine the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” they wrote.
They continued:
Despite the inevitable challenges of evolving science and the public’s expectation of certainty, these are the people best positioned to help our country emerge from this crisis as safely as possible. Unfortunately, their sound science is being challenged with partisan potshots, sowing confusion and mistrust at a time when the American people need leadership, expertise and clarity. These efforts have even fueled a backlash against public health officials across the country: Public servants have been harassed, threatened and forced to resign when we need them most. This is unconscionable and dangerous.
The former CDC chiefs cautioned that the coronavirus is “not even close” to being under control in the U.S., despite Trump and his allies suggesting that it is, and noted that the virus has disproportionately hurt Black, Latino and Native American communities.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/former-cdc-directors-trump-coronavirus_n_5f0da459c5b6df6cc0b140d1
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