I think the data produced by doctors and infectious disease experts is likely to offer a better health response to pandemics.
Unfortunately, the data aren't being produced by doctors and infectious disease experts. The data are being produced by hacks, bureaucrats, and political appointees.
Case in point: I don't have the list of which states, but it has been reported widely enough to be credible that some states are reporting positive antibodies test results (which show that the person
had the coronavirus at some time
in the past) with positive nasal swab tests (which test for having the disease now).
Case in point: It has been reported widely enough to probably be credible that some states' medical directors are reporting
all deaths of people who test positive (either before death or posthumously) as being coronavirus deaths -- whether that's what the person actually died of or not.
Case in point: since early March, my state's governor's office has posted a daily update with numbers of new cases, total number of positive tests, numbers of hospitalizations, and numbers of deaths. I started tracking these reports as of March 1. The state reported the first case on March 8. I check the report daily, print it out and put the print in a 3-ring binder, and log the numbers on a spreadsheet. A funny thing happened on May 3. On May 3, with no explanation, the total number of positive tests reported suddenly was off by 25 from what the total should have been by adding the new cases to the total from the day before. Same thing with deaths: also on May 3, all of a sudden the total number of deaths reported was off by 59 from what the state's own numbers add up to.
Case in point: The woman in Florida who was in charge of generating that state's daily report was fired because she declined to fudge the numbers. I don't remember the specifics, but you can find the story without much trouble if you want to read about it.
There is no good answer. We know the numbers are bogus, but we don't know how far off they are, or in which direction. For all we know, some states may be fudging the numbers higher while other states may be fudging the numbers lower. My view is that I'm pretty certain (heck, I have proof) that my state is fudging the numbers, but as long as they fudge them the same way every day I can still look at the numbers to see if they're trending up or down. They were trending down until about ten days ago; now they're trending up again (but very slightly).