CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky acknowledged her agency’s poor messaging in recent weeks as the Omicron variant continues to surge in the United States.
“One year into her tenure as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Rochelle Walensky acknowledges that she should have communicated certain things better to the American public,” the Wall Street Journal reported about its exclusive interview. “She says the pandemic threw curveballs that she should have anticipated. She thinks she should have made it clearer to the public that new rules and guidelines were subject to change if the nature of the fight against Covid-19 shifted again.”
Walensky told the WSJ, “I think what I have not conveyed is the uncertainty in a lot of these situations.”
According to the WSJ, Walensky has committed to “communicating CDC policy more clearly” and that she is being coached by a media consultant is set to hold more media briefings outside those held at the White House.
There was extreme confusion over the CDC’s guidance on whether those who test positive for COVID with or without symptoms should be isolating and for how long.
“If you’re positive—you should probably stay at home,” Walensky told WSJ. “But a negative—that doesn’t mean you’re not contagious. And we needed to be very clear about that.”
The CDC director said she has the backing of the Biden administration to improve the agency’s data collection, saying fewer than 200 health facilities across the country had their electronic health records linked to the CDC.
“At the start of the pandemic, some states that were unable to electronically report positive COVID-19 cases had to fax PCR results to the CDC, she said,” the WSJ reported. “Some…
Read More: CDC’s Rochelle Walensky admits poor messaging on COVID guidance, vows to