As countries “reopen” in this ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, most do so in the dark, using either poor and inaccurate data or worse – no data at all – to inform policies that can in some cases decide who lives and dies.
The common phrase, data over dogma, is often heard from scientists and citizens alike. But is there enough data to drive informed decision-making?
Many countries have lacked evidence-based COVID-19 policies due to the scarcity of data. Good testing data remains elusive, as even some of the world’s wealthiest countries have been slow to increase testing and obtain good estimates of COVID-19 prevalence.
While there is no official standard COVID-19 testing rate or proportion, countries that have managed their outbreaks better than others – like Germany, New Zealand, and the United Arab Emirates – tested high numbers of their population each day.
The World Health Organisation suggests several conditions should be met before countries ease restrictions, but the first is to be able to confirm that transmission has been controlled.