Reiterating the Essence of and Future Stake of the Public Health Field

Public health is a data and evidence-based practice. It focuses on developing programs, projects, and initiatives that target the community as a whole, not individuals. The essence of public health is to protect the community, promote good health, and prevent diseases. Working with sometimes limited resources, everything that we do as public health professionals must be based on facts, not on personal opinions. Public health agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), and so on offer public health advice, recommendations, and guidelines for various countries worldwide to implement and tailor to their needs.

In recent months, the CDC’s latest policies or guidelines have been called into question and appear rushed. The CDC has been so inconsistent and tends to retract its statements often. With such crappy policies and inconsistencies, the public tends to lose trust in that entity, and in turn, credibility. Effective communication is vital during this pandemic. So far, the CDC has been a disaster and a disappointment. Coming up with public health policies, strategies, or guidelines takes time and involves several partners and collaborators from various sectors. Looking deeply into strategies that worked in the past, identifying gaps, and making them better and more sustainable.

The CDC reduced the recommended isolation and quarantine period to five days for the general population [1]. I keep hearing some people use these two words interchangeably. Being in isolation means that a person has been tested positive, is infected, and should be kept away from people who are not sick [2]. Isolation before was for ten days and has been reduced to five days. Those in quarantine mean they might have been exposed to the disease and will be kept away from others, with movements restricted to see if they get sick [2]. The required quarantine period was reduced from 14 days to five days.

So you could imagine my shock and disappointment when I learned about this new recommendation without the inclusion of showing a negative test before leaving isolation and quarantine. Testing, either using rapid antigen tests (RAT) or polymerase chain reaction (PCR), is a vital public health tool and should not be ignored. Testing is the only means of identifying those who are infectious and contagious. Remember that the goal of isolation and quarantining is to minimize the risk of spreading the virus to others.

According to the CDC director, Rochelle Walensky, new research and what they thought people would tolerate led to the latest guidelines [3]. And this right here is what got me so worried about the state of my professional field of study. Since when did public health professionals start developing projects or policies based on personal opinions? Our job description is to give accurate and sound advice. Research that supports the assertion that infectiousness declines after five days should be transparent. The decision to forgo testing could have been explained further by sharing data with the announcement.

I find it disheartening to see my profession, which I love so much, turned into a political shit show. Most of our public health leaders and agencies seem to be influenced by some business and political elites. It was quite obvious that the latest recommendations were not based on facts. Unfortunately, the self-centered and inconsiderate nature of some parts of the world has and continues to cost the lives of others. Never in a million years did I think one would witness a situation where the tools were there to end a pandemic, and yet, two years later, here we are. It would be interesting to see if other countries adopt these new guidelines as is or make readjustments to them.

References

1. CDC Newsroom. (2022). Retrieved 4 January 2022, from https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2021/s1227-isolation-quarantine-guidance.html

2. CDC Newsroom. (2022). Retrieved 4 January 2022, from https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2021/s1227-isolation-quarantine-guidance.html

3. Yan, H., & Elamroussi, A. (2022). CDC director explains new Covid-19 guidance as the US heads into a harrowing phase of the pandemic. Retrieved 4 January 2022, from https://edition.cnn.com/2021/12/29/health/us-coronanavirus-wednesday/index.html

4. Image Cred: https://www.dreamstime.com/photos-images/public-health.html