I think this is a “both/and” call not an either/or.
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Even after the first case had been diagnosed in WA, the CDC still required recent travel to China to get tested - blinding themselves to the possibility of community spread within WA.
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After weeks of asking permission and getting no where, Helen Chu went ahead and tested (in house) her samples from the Seattle flu study. Her lab is not licensed to do patient care, so she was prohibited for reporting the results to the patients who tested positive. She got her IRB to conclude the obvious: yes, tell them anyway
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The CDC - who still couldn’t process all the tests that even it’s limited rules allowed fast enough to stop onward transmission- had a fit and told her to cease and desist.
So yes, the feds failed to step in and clear the red tape, but they also actively hindered Dr Chu’s lab
ETA: threading fail, meant to be a reply to @karlwlewis and @yskov