By Nathaniel Weixel | MSNBC
Hospitals will begin sending coronavirus patient information to the Department of Health and Human Services directly, not the Centers for Disease Control, under new instructions from the Trump administration.
he move will take effect on Wednesday, according to a new guidance and FAQ document for hospitals and clinical labs quietly posted on the HHS website.
Previously, hospitals reported to the CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network, which the agency describes as the nation’s most widely used healthcare-associated infection tracking system.
CDC tracked information including how many beds are available, number of ventilators available and how many COVID patients the hospitals have.
Beginning Wednesday, hospitals will report the same data, but will bypass the CDC and send it to HHS directly.
According to HHS, the goal is to streamline data collection, which will be used to inform decisions at the federal level, such as allocation of supplies, treatments, and other resources.
But the move comes amid concerns that the White House has been sidelining the CDC, and after Trump administration officials attacked Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease doctor and a member of the White House coronavirus task force.
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