Twenty Questions for the CDC
I probably won't get any answers, but I can at least publish my questions.
When you ask the CDC questions, it’s quite possible your questions will not be answered or your request for an interview will not be granted. If this happens, all you can do is publish the questions, which will let readers know at least one journalist is trying to practice this profession.
With this prologue offered, here are 20 questions I just emailed the CDC media affairs department. The reason I asked these questions will be made clear in future stories. (I’ve actually asked several of these questions in prior emails … and these questions were not answered).
I also think many of these questions have never been asked by any journalist in the country. If I receive any answers, I’ll include the responses in my future articles.
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Hello,
My name is Bill Rice, Jr. I'm a freelance journalist investigating the hypothesis that the novel coronavirus may have been spreading earlier than has been acknowledged.
For a future story(ies), could you forward these questions to the appropriate person and provide answers? I'd also be happy to do a phone interview.
1) Did the CDC ever test any of its own employees for antibodies? I'm particularly interested in any antibody tests that may have been given to CDC employees between mid-February 2020 and the end of May 2020.
2) According to CDC “ILI Surveillance Reports” and those of numerous state health agencies including the Georgia Department of Public Health, ILI was "severe" and "widespread" in almost all U.S. states between November 2019 and the end of February 2020. This includes Georgia, where the CDC is located. (ILI was more than 12 percent in late December 2019, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health). Question: Did CDC officials ever consider the possibility some percentage of these ILI cases could have been Covid?
3) Did the CDC have lager-than-normal absentee rates due to illness between November 2019 and early March 2020?
4) Did any CDC official ever consider the possibility these illnesses could have been Covid?
5) Again, did the CDC ever test its employees for antibodies? Did the CDC test any employees who reported experiencing ILI/Covid symptoms in the late fall/winter of 2019 through the first two months of 2020? If not, why not?
6) I'm very interested in the "Red Cross antibody study" the CDC performed. The study results do not say when the two tranches of archived blood were tested. Can you provide this information/dates? When did the CDC first know the results of this study? (The study found that 2.03 percent of blood donors from CA, WA and OR tested positive. This blood was collected Dec. 13-16, 2019. The study results were published 11 1/2 months later.)
7) Why didn't the CDC test more tranches of archived blood?
8) How long does it take to test 1,900 to 7,000 units of blood for antibodies?
9) Did the CDC ever test any archive blood (collected between December 2019 and January 2020) in any Southern state, including Georgia? (Elevated ILI was conspicuous in the states of TX, LA, MS, AL and GA between November and early February 2020.)
10) How many CDC employees, if any, have died from Covid-19?
The CDC performed an antibody study of crew members of the USS Theodore Roosevelt in late April 2020. Two of the positive crew members reported symptoms 98 and 99 days before donating blood. This might mean these sailors had Covid before or around January 15-17, 2020 - before the ship left port and before the first confirmed case of Covid in America.
11) Wouldn’t these possible cases, if "confirmed," move up the timeline of virus spread in America?
12) Were these sailors interviewed about their symptoms and possible early cases? (Also, approximately 10 other sailors had possible cases that would pre-date the ship's first port-of call. Were any of these sailors interviewed by CDC or Navy personnel regarding possible early cases? If not, why not?)
13) The only antibody studies I've read that were performed on Navy personnel were the Roosevelt and the USS Kidd destroyer. Were any other antibody studies done on any other naval vessels? If not, why not?
14) Why were only 382 crew members of the Roosevelt given antibody tests (Out of a crew of more than 4,800)?
15) When did the CDC have a functional Covid antibody test? (Per my research, Chinese doctors and scientists were performing antibody tests in January 2020).
16) When did the CDC perform its first antibody test? Or: when was the first antibody test in America administered?
17) Is it possible that lockdowns would not have been ordered/mandated if more early positive antibody results had been discovered and publicized?
18) Did the CDC intentionally delay or not perform more antibody tests in February - April 2020 to perhaps conceal evidence of early spread?
19) Are antibody tests considered accurate or credible today? Were they considered credible or accurate in March and April 2020?
20) Did the CDC survey state health agencies and/or private clinics or labs that were performing antibody tests between March and May 2020 to learn how many positive results these tests were producing? If so, how many possible antibody-positive early cases were there in America? If the CDC did not perform such a survey, why wasn't this done?
Thank you very much for any help you can give me with this research and these questions. Again, I'd be happy to do a phone interview to discuss these topics and questions in more detail. I believe many of these questions have not been answered and the public will appreciate the CDC's transparent answers to these questions.
Sincerely,
Bill Rice, Jr.
Troy, Alabama
About me: I'm a freelance journalist whose articles have been published at websites including The Brownstone Institute, UncoverDC.Com, Real Clear Markets, Zero Hedge, The American Conservative, the (UK) Daily Sceptic, The American Thinker and Golf magazine among other publications. I also publish a Substack newsletter.
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(Reminder: My marketing goal is to average two new paid subscribers with every Substack article I post. I now have 278 paid subscribers. Maybe, with readers’ generous support, I can boost that number to 300 in a month or so. Ko-Fi donations are also greatly appreciated).
Four-plus months ago I wrote an essay where I argued that the Socratic Method is now under attack.
I think this is one of my favorite columns and I appreciate that The Brownstone Institute also ran it.
Here it is for any new subscribers or those who might have missed it:
https://billricejr.substack.com/p/if-he-were-alive-today-socrates-would?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2
Socrates refused to give way to coercion when it came to truthsaying and willingly accepted the poisoned chalice. Would that our representatives had the same backbone.