To track how well different countries and U.S. states are responding to the pandemic—and to make valid cross-country and cross-state comparisons—uniform measures are needed for key indicators, such as case identification/testing, hospitalization, mortality, and excess mortality. The authors of this report examined measures used in the early stages of the pandemic (December 2019–May 2020) and found tremendous variability in how different countries and U.S. states measure and report on COVID-19 indicators. The authors make recommendations for the use and development of measures that would allow for more standardized and valid comparisons.

Author(s): Mahshid Abir, Megan K. Beckett, Wenjing Huang, Hamad Al-Ibrahim, Joan Chang, Florian Schmitzberger, Kirstin W. Scott, Peter Hussey