The CDC guidelines shelved by the White House had more detail on what safe reopening would look like than previously reported—and in those details are more reasons the White House wouldn’t have wanted the guidelines released.
The overarching reason to hide the detailed advice is that the White House doesn’t want to take responsibility for decisions, which it wants made by state and local governments so that Donald Trump can blame those leaders. But the White House also would not have liked that the CDC said nonessential travel shouldn’t even be considered until after 42 days of declining COVID-19 cases when the White House’s much more sketchy, politicized “Opening Up American Again” plan gives it the go-ahead after 28 days of declining rates.
The Associated Press obtained the expanded 63-page guidance after reporting on a 17-page version which scientists were told “would never see the light of day.” After that report, the White House did allow select parts of it to be brought back from the dead. But will the White House be adopting things like a 42-day recommendation for even consideration of nonessential travel? Ha. Unlikely.
Another thing the Trump White House isn’t exactly racing to embrace is a recognition, in the CDC guidance, that once states start reopening, there will be a surge of COVID-19 cases. To control such outbreaks, state and local governments will need to continuously monitor for new outbreaks—and that means testing, contact tracing, and the willingness to respond quickly at the first sign of a surge. Those aren’t possibilities Trump wants the public thinking about as he tries to sell “transition into greatness” as a hot new thing.