DeLauro Statement on Trump Administration's Order for Hospitals to Bypass CDC and Send Coronavirus Patient Information Directly to Washington Database

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), released the following statement on the Trump Administration's plan to bypass the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and order hospitals to send patient's coronavirus data directly to a Washington-based database:

"More than 135,000 people in the United States have died due to the coronavirus. How many more people must suffer, and how many more families must lose loved ones before this administration stops playing political games?

"The CDC, not HHS, was created as a nonpartisan entity to tackle public health crises like the one we're facing today and track data related to these crises. Reports that, without prior notification, the Trump Administration ordered hospitals to bypass CDC and send coronavirus patient information to a central database in Washington are in direct violation with the law – this reporting is not optional. HHS has been operating as a dangerous, political apparatus and cannot be trusted to share accurate hospital information with Congress and the American public.

"Make no mistake: our nation's coronavirus case and death numbers are embarrassing when compared to the rest of the world. They are devastatingly high because President Trump fumbled our nation's response and continues to make a terrible situation worse. He can try to intentionally hide the exploding number of cases, but the people will not be fooled."