Applying Benford’s Law to Monitor Death Registration Data: A Management Tool for the COVID-19 Pandemic

In Spain, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the various regions of the country differ7 ently. The availability of reliable and up-to-date information has proved to be fundamental for the 8 management of this health crisis. However, especially during the first wave of the pandemic (Feb9 ruary-August 2020), the disparity in the recording criteria and in the timing of providing these fig10 ures to the central government created controversy and confusion regarding the real dimension of 11 the pandemic. It is therefore necessary to have objective and homogeneous criteria at the national 12 level to guide health managers in the correct recording and evaluation of the magnitude of the pan13 demic…