WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 13: In response to the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic, U.S. President Donald Trump announces that he is declaring a national emergency during news conference with National Institute Of Allergy And Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci (2nd from L), Vice President Mike Pence and other members of his coronavirus task force and leaders from the healthcare industry in the Rose Garden at the White House March 13, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo: Getty)
The Trump Administration blocked publishing a set of guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on reopening from the coronavirus.
The CDC’s 17-page “Guidance for Implementing the Opening Up America Again Framework,” was designed for businesses and local officials. The report was supposed to be released last Friday, but an official was told “it would never see the light of day.”
Asked about the unreleased CDC report, White House coronavirus task force leader Dr. Deborah Birx said Thursday: “No one has stopped those guidelines. We’re still in editing.” She told CNN, ”It was more about simplification.”
The guidelines were more specific and detailed than the ones than the White House’s own “Opening Up America Again” guidelines which were published last month.
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The White House’s guidelines were vaguer and encouraged the continuation of already-established practices of social distancing, teleworking when possible and screening for COVID-19 symptoms.
The CDC recommendations, on the other hand, offered more business-specific guidance such as suggesting restaurants and bars install sneeze guards at cash registers, avoid having buffets and use an app instead of buzzers to alert customers when their table and/or food is ready.
There is some overlap between the guidelines and what has been published on the CDC website, including one page of the document that can be found online through search engines, but some of the more specific information that could be used by local officials and small business owners has not been published yet.
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