Libs accuse the CDC of changing COVID-19 isolation guidance because of Delta Airlines

There’s a growing narrative on lib Twitter that the CDC changed its COVID-19 isolation guidance from 10 days to only 5 days because of lobbying by Delta Airlines:

The head of the Association of Flight Attendants alleges that the change in CDC isolation guidance was made at the behest of Delta Airlines which was short of staff. CDC guidance must be science-based not pushed by politics. pic.twitter.com/SZ8OFD4B8d

— Jonathan Reiner (@JReinerMD) December 28, 2021

The airline had asked the CDC to make the change last week:

Delta Air Lines, which last week urged the CDC to reduce the recommended isolation time, said that it had already begun to adopt the new advice as company policy. https://t.co/hKCgLD5GDX

— The New York Times (@nytimes) December 28, 2021

Jemele Hill called on the media to frame the story as a business decision and not one based on health:

For example, every media outlet should include that Delta CEO Ed Bastain asked the CDC to reduce the recommended quarantine time from 10 days to 5 for vaccinated people because of workforce impact. That’s not a health decision. The media needs to frame it that way every time.

— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) December 28, 2021

And Don Winslow accused the CDC and Dir. Rochelle Walensky of playing politics:

Dear @CDCgov and @CDCDirector

You don't work for Delta Airlines.

You should not do what their CEO ask you to do.

This wasn't a health decision.

It was a political one.

You have made a serious mistake here.

.

— Don Winslow (@donwinslow) December 28, 2021

If they are worried about how Covid infections affect your workforce, then Delta should not fly as many planes right now and make flight plans accordingly. Not endanger an entire country further with a request to the CDC not based in science https://t.co/rarDIfmdOE

— Atima Omara (@atima_omara) December 28, 2021

And, *all of a sudden*, the CDC isn’t credible because THEY say it’s not credible;

I love this thing where the CDC is only as credible as your panic permits it to be. https://t.co/OL5pUy3RUV

— Noam Blum (@neontaster) December 28, 2021

A number of blue-checks are furious at the CDC for making the change, and the outrage appears to be growing:

Dear CDC—🇬🇧@UKHSA requires not just 1 test but **2 negative** #COVID19 tests in order to exist isolation before 10 days. But somehow a 5 day exit with 0 negative test is okay in 🇺🇸? American exceptionalism does not apply to a pandemic virus.

p.s. Asymptomatic can still spread!🧵 pic.twitter.com/DwxBY5m4TG

— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) December 28, 2021

Well, testing would be nice if the Biden administration didn’t, you know, fail at providing them:

I dunno about this without a testing requirement?

When I had a breakthrough a while ago I'd have met the CDC's criteria to exit quarantine after 5 days (no fever, symptoms resolving). But just for kicks, I took a self-test after ~6 days and was still +.https://t.co/mE75cWbtQf pic.twitter.com/f2oQ4JXTkk

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) December 28, 2021

Note: The pivot away from cloth/procedure masks is underway as well:

While new CDC isolation guidelines are reasonable, here's what I would have done differently

1. Required a neg antigen test after 5 days

2. Had different guidelines for vaccinated (contagious for shorter time) versus unvaccinated

3. Specified higher quality masks

Short thread

— Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPH (@ashishkjha) December 28, 2021

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