For Immediate Release: October 2, 2020
Contact: David Harvey, dharvey@ncsddc.org, 202-734-1289

Washington, DC – “Early Friday, President Trump confirmed that he and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for COVID-19. NCSD is wishing the Trump family a swift recovery.

This is a sobering reminder that we are fighting an extremely contagious virus and we must remain vigilant in our response. For individuals, that means continuing to protect ourselves and each other by wearing masks, washing our hands, and social distancing.

As a nation, frequent and widespread testing is key, whether people are showing symptoms or not. Once an infection is identified, the proper contact tracing can take place. This is surely happening at the White House right now. But for this proven strategy to be implemented nationwide, Congress must allocate the resources health departments and frontline workers need to do their jobs.

Responding to COVID-19 requires skilled public health workers trained in contact tracing, community education, surveillance data collection, testing, and health care navigation. Public health STD prevention programs and STD Disease Intervention Specialists (DIS) know how to do this because they have been doing it every day for decades to protect Americans from STDs, HIV, and other infectious diseases, and they have stepped up in the fight against COVID-19 to fill gaps and provide needed training to a growing workforce. But they are being asked to do too much with too little support. Congress must allocate more funding for testing and contact tracing.

It is a winning strategy for the White House and it can be for all Americans.”

About NCSD

The National Coalition of STD Directors is a national public health membership organization representing health department STD directors, their support staff, and community-based partners across 50 states, seven large cities, and eight U.S. territories. Our mission is to advance effective STD prevention programs and services across the country. NCSD does this as the voice of our membership. We provide leadership, build capacity, convene partners, and advocate. Go to ncsddc.org for more information.