According to a new report from the New York Times, starting Wednesday, the Trump administration has ordered hospitals to bypass the CDC and send all coronavirus patient information to a central database in Washington.
"The new instructions are contained in a little-noticed document posted this week on the Department of Health and Human Services’ website, Sheryl Gay Stolberg reports. From now on, H.H.S., and not the C.D.C., will collect daily reports about the patients that each hospital is treating, how many beds and ventilators are available, and other information vital to tracking the pandemic," the Times reports.
Nicole Lurie, who was assistant secretary for preparedness and response in the Obama administration, criticized the decision.
“Centralizing control of all data under the umbrella of an inherently political apparatus is dangerous and breeds distrust,” Lurie warned. “It appears to cut off the ability of agencies like C.D.C. to do its basic job.”
Read the full report over at The New York Times.