SANTA MONICA, Calif. (CNS)—Public trust in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has fallen during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the decline bringing overall population-level trust in the federal agency to the same level of trust long held by Black individuals about the agency, according to a study released April 5 by the Santa Monica-based RAND Corp. Surveys done among a representative group of Americans in May and October show about a 10 percent decline in trust of the CDC over that period, according to the nonprofit think tank. In contrast, public trust in the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) increased significantly over the same period, despite those agencies facing their own challenges, the study found. “The Biden administration will have an uphill battle in rehabilitating trust in the CDC at this critical junction in the coronavirus pandemic,” said Michael Pollard, lead author …