Amid the coronavirus pandemic, competition emerged over which Australian states were most successfully catching COVID-19 in the community.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said international reports showed her state had the highest rate of testing in the­ world. This was something her government was proud of and needed to be maintained, she said.

A week later, Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos claimed her state had both the highest test rate in Australi­a and one of the highest in the world. She tweeted a chart that suggested Victoria was second only to Iceland.

The data shows that when the NSW premier made her claim, her state ranked 22nd in the world for its cumulative testing rate, and 20th for its daily rate. By the time Ms Mikakos made her claim, Victoria's cumulative test rate ranked 13th globally, while its daily test rate ranked fourth. Notably, NSW was counting the number of people tested, while Victoria was counting tests conducted.

The international comparisons come with serious caveats. Not all countries count the same things or report as regularly, and it cannot be guaranteed that different test types have been excluded. Moreover, data is not available for every country.

Verdicts: Ms Berejiklian's claim is overblown, while Ms Mikakos's claim amounts to a fair call.