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Attribution of an Amalgam
The Observer misattributed a comparison in The Guardian.
An article in The Observer claimed:
the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that the UK had the highest total of deaths from Covid-19 of any European nation.
This is false. The Guardian calculated the UK’s figure, using statistics from three statistical offices. Their article made the comparison: the ONS did not.
Constructing an incomparable figure
On 5th May, the headline in The Guardian was:
Calls for inquiry as UK reports highest Covid-19 death toll in Europe
The article also contains a visualisation:
The UK has the highest death toll in Europe from Covid-19
Different countries are counting their COVID-19 death figures in different ways. These differences constrain international comparisons. It is difficult for aggregator sites to contain all information on these differences.
On 4th May, total UK confirmed deaths with COVID-19 were below the Italian total¹.
The Guardian article sums death certificate counts in the four nations. These deaths certificates mention COVID-19:
- England: deaths…
