“I think it's important to see how this response has gone from a CDC center, to CDC, to the Department of Health and Human Services, to an all-of-government response,” he said.

But as the responsibility for leading the response has shifted, confusion over what information is right and what’s wrong has grown, as well.

The dynamic was on display in mid-March as authorities began to bar public gatherings. On March 16, citing “lack of federal direction,” governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut said they would limit gatherings to 50 people. Later the same day, the Trump advised against gatherings of more than 10 nationwide.

“They have lost the role of being the public-facing agency," said Lorien Abroms, an expert on health communications at George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health. The danger is more chaos as the country grapples with the fast-moving crisis, she said.

“We have different parts of the government saying different things,” Abroms said. “People started by being confused and not knowing who to follow.”

In late March, more than 80% of Americans said they trusted the agency for reliable information on the coronavirus, according to a poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health research group. That is a remarkable number when the country is divided and overall faith in institutions is low. Almost as many people said they trusted state leaders, the World Health Organization, and Anthony Fauci, a National Institutes of Health scientist who has taken on the role of expert-in-chief at the White House sessions. Less than half said they trusted Trump or the news media.

The CDC’s latest health recommendation is that Americans wear a facial covering when out in public, part of an effort to reduce spread of the virus, in particular by people who may not have symptoms.

Redfield said he carries a face covering his wife made him from a bandanna and rubber bands, and he wears it in situations when he cannot maintain the recommended six-foot distance from others.

“It’s only a recommendation,” Trump told reporters on April 3, the day the CDC’s mask recommendations came out. “You don’t have to do it.”

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