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For the data heads: why have the government used a logarithmic scale on the global deaths graph they have shown in the last couple of briefings?
Because it means that exponential growth gets shown as a straight line. Left to its own devices a virus will spread exponentially, so if your line starts curving downwards you know your measures are having an effect. Equally, if it starts curving upwards then something is badly wrong.
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It allows you to see more clearly when the rate of growth is speeding up or slowing down. It can however also be misleading if people don't understand what a logarithmic graph is, and underestimate the number of people affected.
Talking about possibly weird graphs, it's difficult to beat this one (look at the y axis):
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A lot of the chart originate from John Murdoch of the FT, he explains here why log https://twitter.com/janinegibson/status/1244519429825802240
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For the data heads: why have the government used a logarithmic scale on the global deaths graph they have shown in the last couple of briefings?