The COVID-19 pandemic has caused profound changes globally in the past three months, forcing governments to make quick decisions and abrupt policy U-turns, and to confront potentially catastrophic economic repercussions. Social isolation imposed to contain the disease will generate high levels of unemployment, incalculable internal and external debts, and financial disruption. Public health recommendations at their simplest are based on easy to understand information about handwashing and maintaining physical distance. But, contradictory discourse by political and other leaders can cause people to disregard rules and disrespect experts, depriving others of the right to health, degrading societal cohesion and ultimately endangering lives. True and false information is generated and disseminated in real-time, generating uncertainties about which behaviours to adopt. The COVID-19 pandemic has motivated us to reflect on the overruling of science by political and other pressures. In this viewpoint, we examine two responses to the pandemic according to the ethical principles of necessity, precaution, proportionality, and transparency.