CDC Bypassed Under New COVID-19 Reporting Guidelines

The Trump administration suggests deploying the National Guard to ensure timely data sharing into a new, centralized database.

Written byAmanda Heidt

| 3 min read

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COVID-19, coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, pandemic, CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HSS, Health and Human Services, National Guard

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Beginning today (July 15), President Donald Trump’s administration is ordering hospitals to report their COVID-19 patient information directly to a new database managed by the Department of Health and Human Services, effectively cutting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention out of the flow of data. In order to force a timely compliance, a letter sent by the administration to state governors this week recommended deploying of the National Guard to collect the data themselves.

While federal officials say the new guidelines will make data reporting more streamlined and centralized, opponents claim that the move sidelines the nation’s main public health agency even as cases continue to rise. In addition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently makes much of its data freely available, a boon for the many groups using this information to populate their disease models and direct their work. Health and ...

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Meet the Author

Amanda Heidt
Amanda first began dabbling in scicom as a master’s student studying marine science at Moss Landing Marine Labs, where she edited the student blog and interned at a local NPR station. She enjoyed that process of demystifying science so much that after receiving her degree in 2019, she went straight into a second master’s program in science communication at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Formerly an intern at The Scientist, Amanda joined the team as a staff reporter and editor in 2021 and oversaw the publication’s internship program, assigned and edited the Foundations, Scientist to Watch, and Short Lit columns, and contributed original reporting across the publication. Amanda’s stories often focus on issues of equity and representation in academia, and she brings this same commitment to DEI to the Science Writers Association of the Rocky Mountains and to the board of the National Association of Science Writers, which she has served on since 2022. She is currently based in the outdoor playground that is Moab, Utah. Read more of her work at www.amandaheidt.com.
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