Benford s Law and COVID-19 reporting #MMPMID32952242
Koch C; Okamura K
Econ Lett 2020[Nov]; 196 (ä): 109573 PMID32952242show ga
Trust in the reported data of contagious diseases in real time is important for policy makers. Media and politicians have cast doubt on Chinese reported data on COVID-19 cases. We find Chinese confirmed infections match the distribution expected in Benford's Law and are similar to that seen in the U.S. and Italy. We identify a more likely candidate for problems in the policy making process: Poor multilateral data sharing on testing and sampling.