The Epistemic Problem of the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Necessary Information Policy

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted personal, social, and economic lives of millions of people around the world. It has taken the familiar world away from everyone. The pandemic is in large part an epistemic problem caused by the invisible contagious virus. Its invisibility can make people ignorant of the threat and spread of the virus. Government and public need scientists to identify and understand the problem of COVID-19. While the latter do not have complete knowledge to cure the disease, they are more knowledgeable to inform the government how to prevent the pandemic from getting worse. Appropriate government intervention requires a thorough investigation involving frequent and massive data collection, which is too expensive for developing countries. Without sufficient data, any government claim and intervention are questionable. The government can compensate the insufficiency of data by acquiring data and information from other sources, such as civil society organization and the public.