This is an oversimplification of the CDC’s new testing guidelines as well as the science surrounding COVID testing. I’m not defending the new guidelines, but we’re not following the science if we aren’t acknowledging nuance and areas of scientific uncertainty. https://twitter.com/nygovcuomo/status/1298648408475881472

I‘d like to see research, for example, on how false negative COVID test results impact risk perceptions & subsequent risk-taking behaviors. It’s possible that people who get tested & get false negative results are taking more risks than they would if they weren’t tested at all.

(And fwiw, the new CDC guidelines still call for COVID testing among vulnerable persons and those recommended for testing by local or state health officials. So they’re not nearly as simplistic as Cuomo portrayed them in the tweet).

And again, I’m not sure the new CDC guidelines are a great idea. They may very well be harmful. But that’s kind of the point — there’s a lot of research that remains to be done, and it’s not sound science to overstate the certainty of evidence in any direction.

And yes, there is a potential for harm in mass/universal COVID testing if there’s a significant rate of false negative results. This would likely confer a false sense of confidence, which could increase disease spread via increased risk-taking behaviors.