Robert Redfield, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said Wednesday he was "disappointed" at criticism of his agency over its Covid-19 response by a spokesman of the health department. "I want to add how disappointed I have been personally when people at HHS (Health and Human Services) made comments that they felt that there was a deep state down at CDC," Redfield told a Senate hearing. "People don't understand the ability to suck energy out of people that are working 24/7 when they get unfairly criticized or unfairly characterized and really that's the real harm in all of this," he added. HHS official Michael Caputo, who previously served on the Trump campaign, told Politico last week he saw his role as vital to stymying "ulterior deep state motives in the bowels" in the CDC. ia/bgs