Public Health Experts, Officials Continue To Question New CDC Coronavirus Testing Guidance

Public health officials and experts — in Georgia and around the country — continue to question a recent change in coronavirus testing guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Earlier this week, the Atlanta-based agency quietly changed its recommendations for which individuals should get tested for the virus.

The CDC previously said anyone who’d been exposed to someone with a confirmed infection should get tested. The new guidance, which was changed Monday, says people who have been exposed “do not necessarily need a test” if they don’t show symptoms of COVID-19, unless testing is recommended by state or local public health officials.

“I don’t think that there’s any really justifiable reason to explain this new guidance from the CDC, and I don’t say that lightly,” said Dr. Jay Varkey, associate professor of infectious diseases at the Emory University School of Medicine.