Trust us, we’re the scientists

Trust us, we’re the government. Confidence in government rarely runs high, but that trust seems to have reached a new low. And with good reason. Last month the Centers for Disease Control insisted that people who had had contact with people who had contracted the coronavirus didn’t need to get tested if they were not showing any symptoms. That raised alarms from scientists who wondered why the nation’s top public health agency would say such a thing during a pandemic. Health experts warned that testing the contacts of infected people is essential to keep the outbreak in check. As we are now learning, the guidance that even those who had contact with sick people not get tested was placed on the CDC’s website over the objections of agency scientists. In short, the politicians overruled the scientists, and did so without going through the traditional review process. That guidance led to unnecessary confusion and understandably makes it harder to trust the guidance from our government. It is important that the CDC be viewed as trustworthy, especially as the administration gears up for a national coronavirus vaccination campaign. We need to be able to trust what our government is telling us, especially during a pandemic, when it could be a matter of life and death. And what the government tells us is the truth needs to come from scientists, not some politicians with an agenda.