During the pandemic, the Venezuelan government maintained an official portal for COVID-19 data. However, at the time of this research, the site was no longer accessible, making direct verification impossible.

Unlike other countries, Venezuela did not provide access to detailed, disaggregated COVID-19 databases. The only official source of information was government reports, which served as the sole reference for both national and international organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO).

Since the WHO only compiles data submitted by governments without independent verification, Venezuela's reported numbers reflect only what the state chose to disclose.

Due to the inaccessibility of the government’s data, this study used figures from the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) COVID-19 database, which collected official numbers from each country. However, for Venezuela, this dataset only included cumulative cases and deaths at a national level, with no regional breakdowns or epidemiological details.

These figures matched WHO data, confirming that all official statistics originated from government sources with no external validation.

The Encuesta Nacional de Hospitales (ENH) is an independent project that has monitored 42 public hospitals across Venezuela since 2018.

It tracks key indicators related to hospital conditions, including supply availability, service functionality, and healthcare system performance.

During the pandemic, the ENH adapted its methodology to daily data collection, aiming to provide real-time insight into hospital conditions amid the health crisis.

Hospitals included in the ENH were selected based on specific criteria:

Due to the political sensitivity of independent data collection in Venezuela, the names of the hospitals are not disclosed publicly to protect the safety of participating doctors. However, data is aggregated by state to maintain transparency while safeguarding contributors.

Despite providing a crucial alternative to government statistics, the ENH dataset has some inherent limitations:

However, as these are major reference hospitals, their data offers a reliable snapshot of Venezuela’s public healthcare situation.

Since Venezuela does not publish official data on hospital bed capacity, traditional hospital monitoring methods were not viable. Instead, the ENH’s reach was estimated based on population coverage:

Mapping hospital locations and coverage zones showed that monitored hospitals serve approximately 49% of the national population.

Given Venezuela’s healthcare infrastructure gaps, where patients often travel long distances for care, actual coverage is estimated at around 60%.

The ENH collected daily hospital data from March 14, 2020, to November 18, 2022—a 2.5-year period, with hospitals reporting data on 72.3% of days.

To ensure accuracy and consistency, several error-detection and correction procedures were applied:

Links from hospitals reported daily on operational ICU beds (defined as those fully equipped and staffed for patient care) and ICU beds occupied by severe ARI patients.

Weekly and state-level averages were calculated, and ICU occupancy was determined as:
(Avg. ICU beds occupied by ARI patients) ÷ (Avg. operational ICU beds) × 100

Rates above 100% indicate ICU overcapacity, meaning more patients required care than beds were available.

Followed the same methodology as ICU beds: daily reporting, weekly and state-level averaging.

Ventilator usage was determined as:
(Avg. ventilators in use) ÷ (Avg. operational ventilators) × 100

Rates above 100% indicate ventilator shortages, where demand exceeded availability

Hospitals reported daily whether supplies were:

Each hospital's overall availability score was calculated based on the days it reported data (missing days were not counted as "no supply").

These thresholds prevented short-term disruptions from distorting long-term trends, ensuring a more accurate assessment of supply shortages.