Absolutely and it’s been mentioned loads in here already. The Economist is doing some great work on increased mortality:
https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2020/07/15/tracking-covid-19-excess-deaths-across-countries
Portugal likely missing over 100% up to June 30th.
I think more people should be aware of this rather than getting data from John Hopkins or worldometres which is likely way off for many countries. Just because a country like Portugal says it has had only 1700 deaths doesn’t make it true.
There are many reasons for countries to fudge the numbers, as has been proven by European countries like the UK demanding quarantine for people flying in from Portugal. That alone is reason for a country to bullshit as it can be a hammer blow to their already struggling economies.*
Feels a little harsh for the beeb to single out Iran when we have stats showing that plenty of Western countries are getting it incorrect.
* For the record don’t think countries are doing it purposely in most cases, it’s just a tricky thing to get right; but it’s naive to think that all countries will be honest when their economies, standing in the World and political standing are at risk.