Every minute a leader hesitates, the rumor mill fills the gap with its own version.

Silence is never received as silence. People need an explanation, so without one they write it themselves, usually the worst plausible version, and once that is circulating you are correcting a story rather than telling one. Speed matters more than completeness here. A quick partial answer beats a polished one that arrives after everyone has decided.

If something is unresolved and people know it, say something today even if it is only that you do not know yet and when you will. Name the next checkpoint. Uncertainty is tolerable when it has a date attached.