White House official says CDC has 'let down the country' after faulty test kits

The White House on May 17 rebuked the US’ top health agency saying that “it let the country down” in providing testing kits crucial to battling the coronavirus pandemic in the nation. The US is the worst-hit nation by the pandemic, with over 1,527,664 cases. Out of the total, a 346,389 have recovered while 90,978 have died.

The Cente for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been under immense scrutiny since it produced faulty test kits which delayed the country’s response to COVID-19 infections. American Economist and White House official Peter Navarro, while commenting on the situation reportedly said that CDC had been the “most trusted brand” around the world in this sector, however, it had “ really let the country down with the testing.” He further said that not only did they “keep the testing within bureaucracy but also had a “bad test”.

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'Should have accepted WHO kits' 

Meanwhile, many critics have pointed out that the US body should have simply accepted the kits produced by the World Health Organisation instead of insisting to produce its own. US' Food and Drug Administration(FDI) also slammed CDC for not following its own protocols for manufacturing  COVID-19 and correcting errors as late as February. President Donald Trump has always blamed Obama for the "Broken tests” however this marked the strongest criticism for CDC from a white house official.

Meanwhile, the CDC is continuing to perform its task. Recently, it posted six guidelines that use traffic signs and other graphics to tell organizations what they should consider as they move towards reopening.  The tools are for schools, workplaces, camps, childcare centres, mass transit systems, and bars and restaurants. The CDC originally also authored a document for churches and other religious facilities, but that wasn't posted Thursday. The agency declined to say why.

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