Inside The Coronavirus Data Mess The Trump Administration Created
Earlier this week, critical data about the availability of ICU and hospital beds around the country vanished from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website. Independent researchers who rely on the data to track and forecast the toll of the virus no longer had quick access. Members of the public who wanted more information to make decisions about their lives ― whether to travel, send kids to camp or visit elderly relatives ― couldn’t find it.
The Trump administration claims the problem will be fixed and has insisted the goal of the change was to get more data, not less, out to the public. “It will continue to be public. It should be public,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said during a Thursday press conference.
But in the meantime, the administration rattled the medical community and showed how easily vital data can disappear. Trump and his team insist they are laser-focused on defeating the coronavirus, which they call the “invisible enemy.” But it’s become clear in recent weeks that the administration’s real fight is against the science and data that show the devastating consequences of the government’s bungled pandemic response.
On Tuesday, the Trump administration changed its coronavirus reporting rules to require hospitals to bypass the CDC and submit information directly to the Department of Health and Human Services, as The New York Times first reported. The following day, the hospital capacity maps on the CDC’s website were removed.
https://www.yahoo.com/huffpost/trump-coronavirus-data-mess-221153858.html
