Be it resolved, we are making high-stakes decisions about the COVID-19 pandemic without reliable data.

The COVID-19 pandemic is spreading across the globe and forcing entire countries to implement lockdowns and strict distancing measures. Many people are confined to their homes, and the economy is heading into a recession. Some scientists believe that more data is needed to institute these extreme measures: due to insufficient testing and incomplete demographic models, the virus might not be as serious or fatal as many believe. Others disagree – the only way to stop the spread of this very serious pandemic is to bring society to a standstill and enforce large scale lockdowns. All the information we have collected so far shows that herd mentality, not herd immunity, is the only way to defeat COVID-19 once and for all.