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Tracking Covid 19

Which countries are doing well at keeping track of the virus? And which are not?

This year has shown us the importance of good robust data - as Covid-19 spread around the world it was vital to track where it was, how many people it was infecting and where it might go next. On More or Less we’ve spent months reporting on data inaccuracies and vacuums, but what makes for good or indeed bad data?

I’ve been speaking to Amy Maxmen, Senior reporter at the scientific journal ‘Nature’ about which countries are getting data collection right and which aren’t.

Presenter: Tim Harford
Producer: Charlotte McDonald

(Medical staff test visitors at a Covid-19 testing station in Seoul, South Korea. Credit: Jung Yeon-Je/Getty Images)

Available now

9 minutes

Last on

Mon 30 Nov 2020 10:50GMT
BBC World Service

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Broadcasts

  • Sat 28 Nov 2020 18:50GMT
    BBC World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
  • Sun 29 Nov 2020 05:50GMT
    BBC World Service except Americas and the Caribbean & East and Southern Africa
  • Sun 29 Nov 2020 22:50GMT
    BBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
  • Mon 30 Nov 2020 10:50GMT
    BBC World Service

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  • More or Less

    Tim Harford explains the numbers and statistics used in everyday life