Leaders at all levels face tough decisions about what to open, when and with what restrictions. To make them responsibly, they must wade through countless variables.

And in Texas, at least, they appear to lack enough information to make those decisions well. Without a much higher level of testing to determine the ongoing spread of coronavirus, these decisions may amount to guesses.

Gov. Greg Abbott is reportedly set to announce Monday the first substantive wave of businesses that can reopen and under what circumstances. Abbott has outlined a careful path and pledged to pay attention to data, particularly testing. But Texas — and Tarrant County — are far behind other areas in testing.

There’s a real chance that the virus is much more widespread than we know. And that means that more interactions at places such as restaurants and hair salons could mean a new spike of cases and deaths.

Through Thursday, the results of just more than 225,000 tests have been reported to the state, out of a population of more than 29 million. Just under 10 percent of those tests have been positive, a much lower rate than other areas have seen.

By contrast, a new study finds that in New York state, antibodies suggest an infection rate of nearly 14%, and it’s as high as 21% in densely populated New York City. Antibody testing is far from perfect, but anything close to those rates would mean multiple more cases than New York has counted so far.

So is Texas fortunate, or is it missing a huge number of infections? Would you want to make a decision that could mean life and death for so many Texans without knowing the answer?

There are promising signs of more testing capacity. County Judge Glen Whitley recently announced a new process for screening and testing sites that could initially yield 500 more tests a week, and more after that. And free drive-through tests became available Friday to those meeting certain criteria designed to target the most at-risk population. Much more is needed, though.

As testing expands, it’s crucial that leaders target under-served communities. Black Americans in particular are hit hard by COVID-19, making up a much greater share of cases and deaths than they do of the population. Underlying health concerns and a lack of access to healthcare are likely culprits, and testing resources must be directed to help make up for that lack of reach.

As the battle against the virus stretches from weeks to months, we’ll need to consider every option to expand testing. Experts have said it may take millions of tests a week nationwide to monitor the virus as we try to restart life and await a possible vaccine.

So, let’s get creative. For instance, former Food and Drug Administration Director Scott Gottlieb suggested in a recent interview with CBS News that government should subsidize testing conducted by employers to prevent new infections in the workplace.

Such solutions could be particularly important as we come to grips with the fact that antibody testing might not be a great step forward for a while, if at all. The initial hope was that by detecting antibodies in the blood, scientists could track the development of immunity and perhaps even develop treatments. But the first round of tests are yielding mixed results.

On the more immediate question of what to reopen and when, our leaders are pulled between two extremes. On one end are those who deny the seriousness of the pandemic, push to open everything and want to leave vulnerable individuals to protect themselves. On the other, some want to keep everything shut down until new infections dwindle near zero (which won’t happen), even if that means plunging into a depression that will bring its own health consequences for years.

Wise leaders will chart a middle path. But they can only do it with better data. And that means better testing, now.