Sign up for our daily briefing
Make your busy days simpler with Axios AM/PM. Catch up on what's new and why it matters in just 5 minutes.
Stay on top of the latest market trends
Subscribe to Axios Markets for the latest market trends and economic insights. Sign up for free.
Sports news worthy of your time
Binge on the stats and stories that drive the sports world with Axios Sports. Sign up for free.
Tech news worthy of your time
Get our smart take on technology from the Valley and D.C. with Axios Login. Sign up for free.
Get the inside stories
Get an insider's guide to the new White House with Axios Sneak Peek. Sign up for free.
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Want a daily digest of the top Denver news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Denver
Want a daily digest of the top Des Moines news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Des Moines
Want a daily digest of the top Twin Cities news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Twin Cities
Want a daily digest of the top Tampa Bay news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Tampa Bay
Want a daily digest of the top Charlotte news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Charlotte
Photo: TAMI CHAPPELL / Contributor
The Trump administration is cutting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention out of the process of collecting coronavirus data, The New York Times reports.
Why it matters: The new database will not be open to the public, according to the Times, and comes amid repeated efforts by the Trump administration to sideline the CDC.
Details: The White House told hospitals to stop reporting key data about their patients to the CDC, and to instead feed it into a new system that will flow directly to the Health and Human Services Department, which oversees the CDC.
- The change was designed to help the White House's coronavirus task force allocate resources, officials told the Times.
- But experts said they're worried that the new system will make it harder for people outside the White House to track the pandemic.
Between the lines: Experts told the NYT that the CDC's data collection systems are flawed, but some questioned whether the administration's new system would be significantly more efficient, on top of their questions about its transparency.
- The CDC "will certainly participate" in the new process, but "will simply no longer control it," HHS spokesperson Michael Caputo told the Times.
Context: The CDC is increasingly under fire from the White House and its Republican allies.
- President Trump and Vice President Pence both criticized CDC guidance that called for opening schools only with extensive social distancing measures in place.
- Trump and senior White House officials previously complained about the CDC's decision to include "presumptive" coronavirus deaths — people who died after experiencing the symptoms of coronavirus, but had not been tested for it — in the official death tally.
- Politico reported last month that the White House was looking to lay the blame for the coronavirus response on the CDC, potentially including "narrowing the mission of the agency or trying to embed more political appointees."