I will start. Alex, feel free if you would like to add your thoughts.
The metaphor I might use is that it provides some timely insights in a rapidly evolving outbreak. The metaphor of not having that information in those types of insights is a bit like fighting an outbreak but with a bit of a blindfold on. For example, if there's a public health intervention on social distancing, you may not even know if it's working, and if it is, whether it's having the intended effect and where, when and how to adapt.
I think in many ways, if I'm just looking at it purely from a public health perspective, lack of these insights could really compromise the public health community's ability to respond to this type of threat.
Alex, is there anything you would like to add?