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Instead of sending coronavirus data to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, hospitals have new orders to send patient information to a central database in Washington. However, this is raising eyebrows about transparency surrounding the virus.
Many health experts find this new information regarding coronavirus data troubling. They fear that the government will withhold data from the public – or even politicize it. The instructions to bypass the CDC were posted in a document on the Department of Health and Human Services website.
This means that from now on, instead of the data going to the CDC, it will be sent to a central database in Washington. The department will collect daily reports about coronavirus patients that each hospital is treating. This will include reports about ventilators, the number of available beds, and other vital tracking information.
As a result, officials say that this move will help streamline data gathering and assist the White House coronavirus task force in allocating supplies. However, that new information will not be open to the public. This could affect the work of other health officials and researchers who rely on CDC data to make crucial decisions and predictions.
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Because of this new policy, health officials are very concerned about how the data will be used. Some worry that the government will withhold important health information from the public.
“Historically, CDC has been the place where public health data has been sent, and this raises questions about not just access for researchers but access for reporters, access for the public to try to better understand what is happening with the outbreak,” said Jen Kates, director of global health and HIV policy with the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.
“How will the data be protected?” she asked. “Will there be transparency, will there be access, and what is the role of the C.D.C. in understanding the data?” she continued.
The news of this change shocked CDC officials, who spoke of their concern on the condition of anonymity.
However, Michael R. Caputo, a Health and Human Services spokesman, insists that the CDC system is inadequate. He also says that the CDC will still be a part of the data collection.
“Today, the CDC still has at least a week lag in reporting hospital data,” said Caputo. “America requires it in real-time. The new, faster, and complete data system is what our nation needs to defeat the coronavirus, and the CDC, an operating division of H.H.S., will certainly participate in this streamlined all-of-government response. They will simply no longer control it.”
Regardless, the new instructions were explicit.
“As of July 15, 2020, hospitals should no longer report the Covid-19 information in this document to the National Healthcare Safety Network site.”
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It has long been a concern for public health experts that the Trump administration is undermining health and politicizing science in favor of agencies under their own payroll companies. On Tuesday, four of the CDC’s former directors published an opinion piece about those concerns.
“Centralizing control of all data under the umbrella of an inherently political apparatus is dangerous and breeds distrust,” said Dr. Nicole Lurie, who served as assistant secretary for preparedness and response. “It appears to cut off the ability of agencies like C.D.C. to do its basic job.”
Representative Donna E. Shalala of Florida, who served as health secretary, shares those concerns.
“Only the C.D.C. has the expertise to collect data,” Ms. Shalala said. “I think any move to take responsibility away from the people who have the expertise is politicizing.”
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