The Trump administration has moved to take down COVID-19 signage from federal agencies and replace websites that had previously offered health information and access to tests and treatment for the virus, swapping them out with a page titled “Lab Leak: The True Origins of COVID-19” published by the White House.
For the past two years, the Department of Health and Human Services had run the COVID.gov and COVIDTests.gov websites to link to resources about the virus, like finding vaccines and ordering free tests offered during the winter.
Those HHS websites have now been replaced, redirecting to the White House page, which cites information from the Republican-led Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic’s report last year.
Beyond the “lab leak” — which refers to the allegation that the virus that causes COVID-19 originated from a laboratory in China, as opposed to a spillover from wild animals into humans — the page lists other accusations made by the committee concerning former National Institutes of Health officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, and former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
An assessment by the Central Intelligence Agency ordered by the Biden administration concluded in January “with low confidence” that a laboratory origin of the virus was more likely than a natural origin. Both a natural origin and a laboratory origin remained plausible, the CIA said at the time. That was different from an earlier assessment ordered by intelligence officials who had found no direct evidence that the virus had started in a lab.
A screenshot of the new web page was shared on social media by the president’s campaign arm, along with the message: “TRUMP WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING!”
Hours after the “lab leak” page rolled out, federal health agency websites continued to direct readers to that link for more information about COVID testing, even though the White House’s page does not have information on how to get tests. Several pages of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidance were also not updated. An HHS spokesperson said the department was in the process of updating their web pages accordingly.
Federal agencies were also ordered this month to take down any signage related to COVID-19, according to a memo obtained by CBS News.
One federal employee working in a health care clinic said they found out first about the directive when nursing staff had been going around their building, taking down any references to the virus from the walls around their facility.
“This memorandum also advises all agencies to remove all COVID-related signage from federally owned buildings and leased space. The Federal COVID-19 Public Health Emergency declaration ended on May 11, 2023,” the guidance says, which was authored by acting General Services Administrator Stephen Ehikian and is dated April 8.
A spokesperson for the General Services Administration confirmed the memo, saying in a statement that the guidance was “part of our normal operations in providing updates to our tenant agencies.”
The memorandum also directed agencies to put up official portraits of President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance immediately, and take down any portraits of the previous administration.
“GSA regularly sends out information regarding the procedures for displaying official portraits of the President and Vice-President in federally owned buildings and leased space during the change of administration,” the spokesperson said.
The agency previously referenced the guidance in a post on social media, saying that it was part of “a new directive” by the administration to display the president’s new official portrait. It did not mention that it was also asking agencies to take down any COVID-related signage.
“If you’re visiting any public office, you’ll start seeing the portrait up on display soon!” the agency said.
Alexander TinAlexander Tin is a digital reporter for CBS News based in the Washington, D.C. bureau. He covers federal public health agencies.
