Contact: Matt Prior, mprior@ncsddc.org, 570-878-3847

Washington, DC – On Wednesday, a new COVID-19 data reporting protocol from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) went into effect. This new reporting protocol strips the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as the recipient of the important data on hospitalizations as a result of COVID-19. In a letter to the nation’s governors, the Trump Administration recommended using the National Guard or another contracted agency to manage and control reporting COVID-19 data at the state level. Public health leaders warn that this could harm the quality of data reporting and the swiftness required to coordinate a national COVID-19 response.

David C. Harvey, the Executive Director of the National Coalition of STD Directors (NCSD), issued the following statement echoing these concerns.

“As COVID-19 rates worsen, we need strong, coordinated federal response to COVID-19 more than ever. This move by the Administration will threaten the quality of data needed to respond quickly and accurately to the pandemic.

The reason we’re in this dire situation, with states struggling to recover, is for years we have failed to invest in and trust our public health system. This move will further undermine the core public health function of CDC and further splinter our national response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We’re setting our health departments and public health system up to fail.

CDC has mechanisms and infrastructure in place to collect and act on data, but this Administration move undermines this core function and further hamstrings our nation’s COVID-19 response. Human life and health should not be politicized.  We need a cohesive approach, not one stratified by political motives. We urge our nation’s leaders in HHS and the Administration to change course.”