During a Friday press briefing at the White House, Principal Deputy Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre struggled to explain how experts at CDC determines delta variant infections among the thousands of people who test positive for COVID in the U.S. every day.
When asked by Newsmax reporter Emerald Robinson how testing is done to determine if a COVID case is of a delta variant versus the original strain, Jean-Pierre simply defaulted to "because the experts say so."
According to the Gateway Pundit, Robinson asked how scientists test for the delta variant of COVID, Jean-Pierre went on the defense and said, "We don't test it, the scientists, they tell us that it is the delta variant."
"Is there a process for that?" Robinson pressed to which Jean-Pierre replied, "I don't even understand, why would they explain it?"
"That is what they are telling us," Jean-Pierre continued. "I laid out how contagious it was, I laid out why we needed to act on the delta variant..."
"The answers we get is 'because they say so,'" Robinson pressed.
"Well they're the experts," Jean-Pierre replied with exasperation. "It's not just 'they,' these are scientists. These are experts."
"I just said that Dr. [Rochelle] Walensky said just recently in her 20 year career, she had never seen a variant that was so contagious. So this is 20 years of her career, so this is absolutely, absolutely a major, major problem that we are trying to deal with," Jean-Pierre argued.
"That's why we heard from the President yesterday. That's why we keep talking about people need to get vaccinated. So that is way that we are trying to move in this administration, making sure that we are protecting people here, making sure we are dealing with this pandemic in a way that is effective."
This tweet from former Nevada GOP Chairwoman Amy Tarkanian shows the exchange:
.@EmeraldRobinson asked @KJP46 how the CDC is testing for the Delta variant and she completely falls apart and says it's because "the experts" say so. pic.twitter.com/C9HKrsJGpj
"” Amy Tarkanian (@MrsT106) July 30, 2021
The lack of transparency from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has frustrated many, especially in the face of changing COVID guidelines. Dr. Ashish Jha of Brown University spoke with PBS, arguing that the CDC must be more transparent in dealing with new information about COVID.
He said, "I think the CDC needs to do is explain, first of all, how it makes its decisions, and the fact that, when new data comes in-when new studies are done on the way to treat a patient, I changed my clinical practice. That's actually normal. And that's what we want CDC to do."
"The CDC [has] to do a better job of explaining it. And, by the way, the CDC should make its data more apparent and transparent," Dr. Jha argued. "They shouldn't say we have data, but we can't share it. That, I think, breeds some amount of confusion in people."
Dr. Jha added that guidance must be linked to "clear metrics" that people understand. His comments are evident of how not only regular citizens are frustrated over the changing CDC guidelines, but even medical professionals as well.
Recently, the CDC said it will stop using its COVID test because it fails to differentiate from the seasonal flu and the coronavirus. They are now looking to use a better test to improve determination of COVID cases in patients, The Gateway Pundit (TGP) reported.
It's worth noting that the CDC's decision to stop using older COVID tests because of their inability to differentiate between a COVID infection and a flu indicates the possibility that some cases recorded as "COVID positive" might have simply been flu cases.
"This is the latest move by the CDC that appears highly suspect," TGP said. "They need to get their program together if they want Americans to trust their continually changing demands."
