Statistics can mislead if the general public does not understand them, or if the figures are presented in a way which is deliberately misleading. An even easier way to mislead is to publish figures which are just untrue.
The covid pandemic has shone a light on the need for the publication of trustworthy statistics. In this country we have the Office for National Statistics producing and summarising the data which we believe gives, at least, a fairly reliable picture of the number of covid infections, hospital admissions and deaths.
This is not true in all other countries. Some governments chose to underestimate the number of deaths for political reasons. For instance in Russia there is a huge discrepancy between the official figures for deaths and the likely true figure, which is reflected in "excess deaths".
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-56454701
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