New York Times calls out CDC for misleading Americans on outdoor transmission of COVID

In The New York Times daily newsletter David Leonhardt called out the CDC for greatly exaggerating outdoor transmission and misleading the American public. In a recent release, the CDC said "less than 10 percent" of COVID-19 transmissions occurred outdoors. This statistic was repeated by the mainstream media. In fact, outdoor transmissions account for far less than 1 percent of all transmissions.

"Saying that less than 10 percent of Covid transmission occurs outdoors is akin to saying that sharks attack fewer than 20,000 swimmers a year. (The actual worldwide number is around 150.) It’s both true and deceiving." says Leonhardt in the newsletter. The release coincides with the CDC releasing new guidelines that still require fully vaccinated people to wear masks outside in some settings.

The CDC continues to push outdoor masking for others too, requiring all children at summer camps to wear masks outdoors at all times. According to Savannah Guthrie of NBC, the CDC guidelines for summer camps state that, "masks must be worn at all times even outdoors by everyone including vaccinated adults and children as young as two years old and summer campers should stay 3-feet apart even outdoors.

The New York Times newsletter cited faulty scientific papers from countries like Singapore as one reason the CDC continues to push its "less than 10 percent" statistic rather than a more accurate "less than 1 percent".

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida has a different message than the CDC, "If you get a vaccine ... you're immune. So act immune." DeSantis called out people like the CDC for mixed messages on vaccines for continuing to push misleading narratives on outdoor transmission and masking after vaccination.