Ah, scientists, the bane of civilization...
> simply "following the science" [...] was a big factor in the costly delay to the nation's first lockdown and postponed the introduction of face masks rules
"Simply following the science" also prevented medieval Europe from using antibiotics against the plague, resulting in millions of casualties!
It's the nasty useless scientists' fault: Unlike the true scientists you see in the movies, they don't have an instant answer to every problem, and don't do miracles with almost nothing in mere hours. Lazy, incompetent bunch, all of them!