Evidence Informed Policymaking in Infectious Disease Epidemics: Implications for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

The outbreak of emerging and acute infectious diseases is one of the threats to global health. Another such event is the latest global pandemic, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) COVID-19. The right policymaking and management of this pandemic require the use of scientific capabilities and evidence obtained from different experiences. However, as far as COVID-19 is a wicked problem, informed decision making for COVID-19 differs from policymaking in normal circumstances and faces difficulties. In general, we grouped these difficulties into three categories, including uncertainties, heterogeneous policymaking, and weaknesses of the history approach. Uncertainties of coronavirus can be resolved by the development of an integrated system for tracking deaths and mortality estimates, monitoring of the key characteristics of dead coronavirus patients and patients admitted to intensive care unit (ICU), as well as more work to assess the incidence and characteristics of coronavirus infections across the population. In order to minimize the harm caused by heterogeneous policies, it would be easier to clarify, interpret, and apply the macro-strategies of the World Health Organization (WHO) consistent with the local requirements of the country instead of not embracing and refusing them altogether. Furthermore, in order to make good use of the history-as lessons- approach of the epidemics in COVID-19 policy, the experiences of previous epidemics must be adequately clarified and logically interpreted and implemented in accordance with the temporal, environmental, and political circumstances of the COVID-19 epidemic.