Masked pedestrians crowded a sidewalk near a bus stop in Caracas, Venezuela, on Monday. By Rodrigo Pérez Ortega Science’s COVID-19 reporting is supported by the Pulitzer Center.Scientific and human rights groups in Venezuela and abroad have rushed to defend the Venezuelan Academy of Physical, Mathematical and Natural Sciences (ACFIMAN) after a high-level government official suggested raids or arrests to punish the academy for “causing alarm” in a report that suggested the country’s coronavirus epidemic is far worse than official numbers show.In the unsigned 18-page report, released on 8 May, scientists at ACFIMAN used mathematical models to estimate the current and future size of the epidemic in the country.