Coronavirus: Government’s use of testing figures ‘falls well short’ of normal standards, warns chief statistician

The government’s use of figures on coronavirus testing “falls well short” of normal standards, the UK’s chief statistician has said, warning: “The aim seems to be to show the largest possible number of tests, even at the expense of understanding.”

In a scathing letter to health secretary Matt Hancock, UK Statistics Authority chair Sir David Norgrove said it was “hard to believe” that the way the numbers are analysed and presented helped support the testing programme.

And he said it was “not surprising” that the figures relied upon by Mr Hancock to bolster his claim of meeting high-profile testing targets were “so widely criticised and often mistrusted”.

More follows…