The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director said Thursday he’s “very concerned” that his agency’s public health message isn’t resonating, citing uneven use of face coverings and lax compliance with social distancing at parties or other major events.
Robert Redfield said people near his home in Baltimore tend to wear masks but he hardly sees anyone in Washington wearing them.
He also said he shared Democratic lawmakers’ concerns about photos of people gathered at the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri or the SpaceX launch in Florida without maintaining physical distancing.
“We’re very concerned that our public health message isn’t resonating. We continue to try to figure out how to penetrate the message with different groups,” he told House lawmakers tracking the pandemic response. “We will continue to try to message as well we can.”
“These social distancing strategies that we’ve learned are something we’re going to need to perfect,” Dr. Redfield said. “Because we’re going to need them to be our major defense again in October, November, December.”
As it stands, there is no vaccine for the coronavirus or widespread public immunity to the newly discovered disease. Experts say the dual threat of a second coronavirus wave and a bad flu season could be difficult to manage.
Dr. Redfield said only 47% of the Americans avail themselves of the flu shot under ordinary circumstances, so everyone needs to do their part before a COVID-19 antidote is available.
“This single act will save lives,” he told the subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee. “We’re really hoping the American public will see that the flu vaccine is one major way they can help this nation get through this fall.”
The coronavirus discovered in Wuhan, China, last December has spread across the globe and infected 1.8 million people in the U.S., and killed over 107,000.
Transmission is plateauing after months of drastic measures, including stay-at-home orders, business closures and physical distancing.
The summer weather may slow transmission, though a fall resurgence is a major fear. States also fear flare-ups as businesses reopen and people gather in mass protests against police brutality.
Rep. Mark Pocan, Wisconsin Democrat, said he is worried that chemical riot-control agents will cause coughing and potential disease transmission at the protests. Dr. Redfield said he would raise his concern at the next White House coronavirus task force meeting.
“I think you raised an important point,” Dr. Redfield said. “We have advocated strongly the ability to have face coverings and masks available to protesters.”
He also said marchers ought to get tested to ensure they don’t spread the virus in the community if they become infected.
“I do think there is a potential, unfortunately, for this to be a seeding event,” he said.
Dr. Redfield urged appropriators on the coronavirus subcommittee to fund improvements to the nation’s public health infrastructure, especially its data-reporting systems. And he acknowledged well-documented hiccups in developing a COVID-19 test that local health departments could use, which included a delay in engaging the private sector.
Public health departments had to send test samples to the CDC in the early weeks of the pandemic, and contamination problems delayed the CDC’s effort to develop a diagnostic that state departments could use on their own.
“Within five weeks, it was corrected,” Dr. Redfield said, saying the development of a test within five to six weeks from acquiring the genetic sequence of the pathogen was “still an accomplishment.”
“That six weeks was the six weeks we had to get ahead of this virus,” Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, Washington Republican, interjected.
Democratic lawmakers also said they’re concerned the CDC has dropped out of view amid the pandemic despite its expertise.
Subcommittee Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro noted the CDC stopped doing media calls in March and that states tried to reopen before the CDC released detailed guidance on how to do it safely.
“I am alarmed that this administration has sidelined the CDC in our response to the pandemic and chosen political expediency over public health,” said Ms. DeLauro, Connecticut Democrat. “As a result, the U.S. has had the worst response to the coronavirus of any country in the world.”
Rep. Tom Cole, Oklahoma Republican, objected to the chairwoman’s suggestion the U.S. fared worse than other countries, citing European countries with sophisticated health systems that saw higher per-capita death rates.
“In this case, we may not be the best but we’re not the worst,” Mr. Cole said.
Ms. DeLauro said other countries, including Germany and South Korea, found ways to keep their populations relatively safe.
“There is no national coordinated strategy,” she added. “It appears as if the United States is just admitting defeat.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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