The bad news is obvious: COVID-19-related deaths have surpassed 200,000 and infection is still spreading rapidly, and a second wave this fall is all but certain. But there is important good news obscured by these grim facts: We have the tools to manage new outbreaks and more quickly develop treatments than at any other time in human history.
Why? Because governments around the world, in concert with private philanthropies, universities and biotech industries, have invested over the past decades in science: epidemiological models of pandemics, molecular studies of viruses, and strategies to develop and deploy new technologies to treat emerging threats. It is also because there are protocols for well-scripted, meticulously-controlled clinical trials to yield safe and effective treatments and vaccines.
To best position us for a second wave this fall and winter, we need to stay the course and stick with the scientific process. In the case of COVID-19, the catch is that we still lack ample and reliable data. And it is precise data — carefully, rigorously, scientifically attained — that is the key to minimizing further loss of life and damage to the economy. If we proceed without the right data, in a mad dash to complete this process quickly, we’re likely to fail.
Read Entire Article - https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/496421-data-driven-science-is-the-only-way-to-beat-covid-19?fbclid=IwAR0pBt3RHwED7BgBQZ5jTEPMauwXh0-j3v5ROh8P82hQBcUlD1E-c-OJMWw#.XrnGld5uJSc.facebook
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Why? Because governments around the world, in concert with private philanthropies, universities and biotech industries, have invested over the past decades in science: epidemiological models of pandemics, molecular studies of viruses, and strategies to develop and deploy new technologies to treat emerging threats. It is also because there are protocols for well-scripted, meticulously-controlled clinical trials to yield safe and effective treatments and vaccines.
To best position us for a second wave this fall and winter, we need to stay the course and stick with the scientific process. In the case of COVID-19, the catch is that we still lack ample and reliable data. And it is precise data — carefully, rigorously, scientifically attained — that is the key to minimizing further loss of life and damage to the economy. If we proceed without the right data, in a mad dash to complete this process quickly, we’re likely to fail.
Read Entire Article - https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/496421-data-driven-science-is-the-only-way-to-beat-covid-19?fbclid=IwAR0pBt3RHwED7BgBQZ5jTEPMauwXh0-j3v5ROh8P82hQBcUlD1E-c-OJMWw#.XrnGld5uJSc.facebook