CDC now recommends all people exposed to COVID-19 get tested, reversing earlier controversial guidance – USA TODAY

CDC Director Robert Redfield testified at a Senate panel on coronavirus and gave his opinion on face masks, but then President Trump contradicted him. USA TODAY

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reversed controversial guidance on coronavirus testingFriday, nowrecommending that people who have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 should get tested, even if they're not symptomatic.

If you have been in close contact withan infected person and do not have symptoms, "you need a test," the CDC said in an updateto its website Friday.

"Due to the significance of asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmission, this guidance further reinforces the need to test asymptomatic persons, including close contacts of a person with documented SARS-CoV-2 infection," the CDC says.

The recommendation departs from guidance the agency issued at the end of August, which said that someone who was in close contact (within 6 feet) of an infected person for at least 15 minutes but doesnt have symptoms does not "necessarily need a test."

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Infectious disease experts were confused and troubled by the change, as people who are not showing symptoms can still have and spread COVID-19.

"Our work on the 'silent'spread underscored the importance of testing people who have been exposed to COVID-19 regardless of symptoms," Alison Galvani, director for the Center for Infectious Disease Modeling and Analysis at Yale School of Medicine, said on Twitter at the time. "This change in policy will kill."

The CDC estimatesthat 40% of infections are asymptomatic and 50% of transmissions occur before symptoms appear. Experts worry that failing to test asymptomatic carriers could not only result in more infections but also hinder contact tracing efforts.

The New York Times reported Thursday that the controversial guidance was not written by CDC scientists and was posted to the agencys website "despite their serious objections," according to internal documents and several people familiar with the matter.

Dr. ThomasFile Jr., president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, cheered the update Friday.

"The return to a science-based approach to testing guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is good news for public health and for our united fight against this pandemic. We urge officials to support the work of controlling this pandemic by following medical guidance of experts in the field," he said in a statement.

Galvani said the move Friday was "a step in the right direction."

"In order to control the pandemic, it is imperative that contact tracing is conducted and that exposed individuals be tested irrespective of symptoms. The goal should be that this process is implemented fast enough that cases are identified before they become symptomatic," she said. "People are highly infectious during the presymptomatic phase and catching people during that phase is key to interrupting transmission."

Contributing:Adrianna Rodriguez and Karen Weintraub

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CDC now recommends all people exposed to COVID-19 get tested, reversing earlier controversial guidance - USA TODAY