Since first taking action to address the spread of the coronavirus, the UK government has been accused by some of not following “the science”. Yet the government’s chief scientific adviser and chief medical adviser regularly appear next to the prime minister as he announces new measures to tackle the virus. And he maintains that the government’s actions are, indeed, “led by the science”. So what’s going on?

The difficulty is that we’re dealing with a lot of uncertainty. “The science” in this case isn’t a consensus of established facts but rather a system of modelling and predicting what effects different measures will have. However, researchers are also working quickly to try to change that and gather empirical evidence about how successful the measures being taken around the world are at stopping the spread of the virus. There might not be a single best strategy that works for everyone, but we’re starting to build a picture of what can be effective.

In the case of South Korea, much of its recent fall in the number of new cases has been attributed to an extensive testing programme. But you also need to find and isolate infected people to test, and that’s been done thanks to the country’s extensive use of surveillance technology, something that might make some countries feel uneasy. Singapore has had similar results that have also been based on strong communication with the public.

Speaking of which, you may have seen reports that ibuprofen and high blood pressure “ACE inhibitor” drugs can worsen symptoms of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), so we’ve been getting to the bottom of what we really know.

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