Are some countries faking their covid-19 death counts?
An elementary statistical test casts doubt on some abnormally neat numbers
S OMETIMES THE numbers are simply too tidy to be believed. Irregular statistical variation has proven a powerful forensic tool for detecting possible fraud in academic research, accounting statements and election tallies. Now similar techniques are helping to find a new subgenre of faked numbers: covid-19 death tolls.
This article appeared in the Graphic detail section of the print edition under the headline “More equal than others”
Graphic detail February 26th 2022
From the February 26th 2022 edition
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