‘Tell me what to do! Please!’: Even experts struggle with coronavirus unknowns

Ilhem Messaoudi, an epidemiologist at the University of California at Irvine, said in an email that, in this age of preprints and social media, many of the nuances of research have been lost in the public discussion. “50 character headlines have prevailed over careful and reserved discussions,” she wrote. “With a global pandemic such as this, the public wants the scientific leaders to speak with certainty, but that is not possible.”