Do you believe in conspiracy theories? I don’t, but as a resident of Georgia, the state with the earliest and most aggressive reopening plan in the nation, I have a confession – I am worried that the coronavirus information in my state is being manipulated, and the science behind it is being suppressed.

And I am not alone.

Amidst the numerous reports of how some states, including my own, have shared inaccurate coronavirus-related data with the public, it’s hard not to question whether the daily stream of testing data can be trusted.  And as more and more Americans are trying to make informed decisions as to how their families and their businesses should navigate these uncertain times, the stakes couldn’t be higher.

Take Georgia for instance. Based on reporting by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, it is now clear that some of the positive trend data that Georgia Governor Brian Kemp used to rationalize Georgia’s first-in-the-nation reopening wasn’t accurate. And it wasn’t a minor mistake — in at least three separate occurrences, the daily testing and infection rates tracked by the Georgia Department of Public Health were taken out of chronological order and sequenced in a manner that showed Georgia’s curve was miraculously and misleadingly flattening. In response, the Georgia governor was forced to acknowledge the mistake.

“Our mission failed. We apologize. It is fixed,” tweeted Candice Broce, a spokeswoman for the Georgia governor.

But Georgia isn’t alone. The transparency of Florida’s coronavirus tracking has also come under scrutiny in light of two recent reports. First, the state stopped releasing the list of coronavirus deaths after it was pointed in a report by the Tampa Bay Times that the state’s Medical Examiner Commission’s death totals were 10% higher than totals reported by the Florida Department of Health. Then in May, the removal of a top data manager who helped develop the state’s Covid-19 data collection tool further called into question whether Florida health employees were being pressured to manipulate the coronavirus information. 

Unlike Georgia, Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida has strongly pushed back on there being any impropriety and has largely tried to discredit the terminated employee. But the question remains, is Florida’s Covid-19 data truly transparent, and if not, what is there to hide?

And just this week, the accuracy of the testing data of multiple states and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was also called into question. The CDC and states were forced to acknowledged that they have been mixing two different sets of screening results in order to compile their reported testing data. By combining both viral and antibody tests – essentially tests that tell if someone is presently sick, or was previously sick – the metrics are rendered useless in determining real trends related to infection and convalescence.

So what are we to make of all of this?

It is fair to question whether all of the testing inaccuracies are simply clerical mistakes in a time of exceptionally high pressure. But it is equally fair to ask whether all of reporting irregularities are part of an intentional pattern that obfuscates science in an effort to achieve political interests – particularly those that relate to the rapid reopening of state economies.

In other words, we need to grapple with the troubling question: in the early days of this pandemic, are our governments suppressing science?

It isn’t impossible to believe that to be the case, especially since many of the nation’s governors are feeling extreme pressure to get their states back to work amidst the worst economy since the Great Depression. Additionally, federal and state officials are being urged on by President Trump, who himself has often questioned the value and accuracy of scientific findings. But perhaps the biggest driver for the suppression of science is that many elected officials are making big bet decisions based on political calculations, and they would really like to have those decisions backed up by data as well.

Even if the science needs to be manipulated to do so.

Data doesn’t always match the narratives that our politicians want to tell, especially when their agenda is obvious. But for the rest of us, valid and transparent data is the only way we can make informed decisions of how we navigate our businesses and our lives in the new pandemic-changed world.

It would be more optimistic to believe our leaders aren’t suppressing science, but it sure is starting to feel like they are.

And that might be the most troubling metric of all.