Claims, Caution and Comparisons

Flawed comparisons make “an absolutely astonishing statistic”.

On 3rd June, Nicholas Watt (BBC Newsnight) claimed:

The UK now has more daily deaths from [COVID-19] than the rest of the EU put together.

Tens of thousands of social media users shared the Newsnight graph.

International comparisons are challenging. Countries count COVID-19 deaths in different ways and can change over time.

Claim and caution