This paper examines how the British government has used statistics about COVID-19 for political ends. A distinction is made between precise and round numbers. Historically, using round numbers to estimate the spread of disease gave way in the 19th century to the sort precise, but not necessarily accurate, statistics that are now being used to record COVID-19. However, round numbers have continued to exert rhetorical, ‘semi-magical’ power by simultaneously conveying both quantity and quality. This is demonstrated in examples from the British government’s claims about COVID-19. The paper illustrates how senior members of the UK government use ‘good’ round numbers to frame their COVID-19 goals and to announce apparent achievements. These round numbers can provide political incentives to manipulate the production of precise number; again examples from the UK government are given.

本文研究了英国政府如何将有关COVID-19的统计数据用于政治目的。精确数字和舍入数字之间有区别。从历史上看，使用整数来估计疾病的传播在19世纪被放到了一种精确的（但不一定是精确的）统计数据上，该统计数据现在已用于记录COVID-19。但是，整数同时通过传递数量和质量来继续发挥修辞性的“半魔术”力量。英国政府关于COVID-19的主张中的例子就证明了这一点。本文说明了英国政府的高级成员如何使用“好”的整数来制定其COVID-19目标并宣布明显的成就。这些整数可以提供政治诱因来操纵精确数字的产生；