March 01, 2020

Castro Statement on Coronavirus Patient Released Into San Antonio By CDC

WASHINGTON—Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Vice Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, and member of the House Intelligence and Education and Labor Committees, today released the following statement in response to reports that a coronavirus patient released into San Antonio by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) later turned up positive:

“If reports are true, the CDC’s premature release of a quarantined patient carrying the coronavirus into San Antonio raises serious questions about CDC management, protocols and the attentiveness of the Administration to public safety. While I have confidence in the competence of the medical professionals at the CDC, I am less confident in the decisions made by management. Specifically, the decision to release symptomatic patients from quarantine to local hospitals and the politicized decision to keep patients in San Antonio rather than carry out a planned transfer to a top-rate facility in Alabama. The people of San Antonio have always stepped up to receive people in need — especially fellow Americans. However, we expect that to be matched by absolute care and competence by the professionals entrusted with their treatment. My office has been in touch with the CDC and local officials everyday since we first learned of the plan to quarantine patients at Lackland. We have worked with local officials to communicate the concerns of the community to the CDC. Sometimes they have listened and sometimes, unfortunately, they have not. Following today’s news, I will ask the committees of jurisdiction in the House of Representatives to investigate CDC’s protocols for the treatment of coronavirus patients.”

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