Understanding COVID-19 reporting behaviour to support political decision-making: a retrospective cross-sectional study of COVID-19 data reported to WHO.

The majority of countries reported COVID-19 cases when they did have cases to report. The identification of a slight 'weekend effect' suggests that COVID-19 case counts reported in the middle of the week may represent the best data basis for political ad hoc decisions. A few countries, however, showed unusual or highly irregular reporting that might require more careful interpretation. Our score system and cluster analyses might be applied by epidemiologists advising policy makers to consider country-specific reporting behaviours in political ad hoc decisions.