In the pandemic's early stages, politicians and public health officials maintained the best way to prevent the spread was to stay home.

Technically, that's sound advice. The only sure-fire way to prevent getting sick is to eliminate contact with all possible vectors.

But then reality set in, what good is good advice if it's nearly impossible to heed,

especially over the long haul? Soon, people began popping their quarantine bubbles and coming into

contact with people they didn't live with.

All that worsened by the fact that stay home left the public without the necessary tools to manage their own risk.

Needless to say, because doubtless you know, the curve is no longer flattened.

It's taken a sharp upward turn again.

Epidemiologist Julia Marcus is an HIV-AIDS specialist

and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School.

She's frustrated by the opportunities for public education missed by the CDC.

I think the CDC has sadly been rendered fairly impotent in this pandemic response.

There are mistakes that have been made by the CDC, but I ultimately think they have not been allowed to fully do their job.

So even last week, when they released some new practical guidance for people, they never told the public.

So now the guidance is buried on their website.

They have allowed themselves, I think, to be swayed by the White House. For example, in their most recent guidance on group gatherings that very noticeably did not differentiate between indoor and outdoor gatherings. And it was just before the Trump rally. So I don't think it's an accident.

I also don't think it's an accident that their guidance provided no information about sex or

dating. The CDC has become a little more focused on practical concerns over the last few weeks

as cities reopen and has offered more options for social interaction.

Well, first I'll say it would have been helpful to have that guidance earlier when people were

already making decisions every day about whether and how to engage in social contact with other

people, but better late than never. For example, trying to socialize outdoors rather than indoors,

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