Critics demanded answers from CDC director Rochelle Walensky Sunday after she hedged on how many of the COVID-19-related deaths in the U.S. were directly due to the virus and how many were individuals who died with COVID-19 yet had underlying conditions.
“Do you know how many of the 836,000 deaths in the U.S. linked to COVID are from COVID or how many are with COVID, but they had other comorbidities? Do you have that breakdown?” Bret Baier asked Walensky on “Fox News Sunday.”
“Yes of course with omicron we’re following that very carefully,” Walensky responded. “Our death registry of course takes a few weeks…to collect. And of course omicron has just been with us for a few weeks. But those data will be forthcoming.”
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky testifies before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on Capitol Hill about the COVID-19 response, Nov. 4, 2021. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Walensky and the CDC have come under fire in recent weeks for releasing confusing guidance on the coronavirus. Most recently, the agency cut the length of its recommended quarantine time for infected patients from 10 days to five. Those who are infected are now instructed to isolate for just five days, followed by five days of wearing a mask around other people. The CDC has also sent mixed messaging in terms of the efficacy of rapid antigen testing and on the wearing of masks.
Emergency room nurses at the Houston Methodist The Woodlands Hospital on Aug. 18, 2021, in Houston, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
The U.S. has experienced a record-breaking uptick in COVID cases in recent weeks following the introduction of the omicron variant, leading to hours-long lines for Americans trying to get tested.
Cortney O’Brien is an Editor at Fox News. Twitter: @obrienc2
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