25 November 2020
"You can have data without information, but there is no information without data" – Anon
As part of the IFoA response to the Covid-19 pandemic, a national narrative survey was sent out to gauge international responses to the pandemic. Following this, the PAN2 National narratives workstream was formed as part of the ICAT (IFoA Covid-19 Action Taskforce) to compare various impacts of the pandemic with an international context.
One of the observations we made from the survey responses was the varying sources and level of detail and quality of the data sources for information. In order to reliably compare the impact of the pandemic at an international level – reliable and consistent data sources are required with a record of infection, testing, recoveries and deaths. The impact of any mitigation strategies can only accurately be tracked if the collection of data is reliable.
Our workstream collated the responses to the national narrative survey and expanded it based on drilling into underlying sources used to populate the data around the world. Our output is this comprehensive international log aimed at supporting workstreams and actuaries to have reliable up to date sources of data to aid their analyses. As the quote above infers, our information is only as good as the data used.
Most available data collected is at a summarized level, with little information about age, gender, race, or pre-existing conditions of the underlying population being included. The workstream continues to explore potential regional sources of more detailed data that could facilitate more nuanced comparisons among countries to be made.
The Data source log is arranged in this way:
- Detailed Data sources – Where specific country level data has been collected or is available, this tab details the source and level of extra detail available for that country;
- The rest of the tabs list the most reliable data source for each country, split by region.
We hope that you will find this to be a useful collection of data and that it will add as much to your understanding as it has to ours.
Additionally – we are always seeking out new data sources, particularly from under-represented countries or where the level of detail is enhanced. So please reach out to PAN2 workstream lead Kate Dron at kate.dron@suncorp.co.nz or coordination volunteer Randall Wright at randall.wright@swansea.ac.uk if you may be able to help!
Kate Dron (Suncorp – Pan2 workstream lead), Kirsty Howitt (Gallagher Re), Mwansa Kafwembe (Swiss Re), Randall Wright (Swansea University)