For the Media

 “Despite what their reduction-in-force notices may have said, all of these workers are essential to our nation’s health. These areas serve core functions for our nation that allow us to accurately track disease, prevent death, inform Congress about the latest science, and effectively maintain CDC operations.” — M. Daniele Fallin, PhD

"The real issue for Medicare is how to balance the volume of physician services with payment. Medicare tries to limit the rate of growth in physician total payments, which means that providers need to see more patients to adjust for decreased revenue. As an alternative to the “doc fix” campaign, one proposed solution to effectively manage billions of physician services is making updates to the physician fee schedule, with an annual update based on a portion of the growth in the Medicare Economic Index." – Edmund Becker, PhD

“I look to wastewater data and word-of-mouth as the best early indicators of a COVID wave. When the virus levels in wastewater start to creep up, and when you start hearing about people within your network getting sick, those together provide a good signal that COVID is on the rise. It doesn't mean that the wave will be very large or extra intense, but it does mean that more people around you (and maybe you!) start to get sick.” – Natalie Dean, PhD