Friend --

Who would've guessed: Now that the CDC is no longer the first to receive state COVID data, the public release of hospital data has slowed to a crawl.

I said last month that the decision to hamstring the CDC’s ability to distribute publicly the number of deaths and number of hospitalizations due to COVID would hurt us in our bid to end this public health crisis. And we know it’s getting worse -- unfortunately for Donald Trump, right now, ignorance is not bliss.

As if life amidst a global pandemic and a Trump presidency wasn’t chaotic enough, this has introduced even more chaos -- and people will die because of it. We need to rely on science: Add your name to tell President Trump and his administration to stop hiding data and start releasing COVID data faster right now.

This is the worst public health crisis in a century. We can’t sweep it under the rug -- no matter how much President Trump may try.

From the beginning, we should have listened to the messages from public health officials like Dr. Anthony Fauci. We should have continued to make COVID infection information as accessible as possible. Hiding it doesn’t make it go away -- just like Donald Trump’s assertion that if we gave fewer COVID tests, we’d have a lower rate of infection that has no basis in fact.

We’re fighting science with straight up denial. And Americans are getting sicker and sicker, and more are dying every single day. It’s shameful.

That’s why Donald Trump needs to hear from us: Tell him to stop hiding COVID data and start listening to science right now.

Sincerely,

Chuck Schumer