Staff working on a Covid intensive care hospital ward They are called the “daily death figures” – and they provide one of the starkest illustrations of the devastating loss of life caused by Covid-19. For journalists, politicians and the wider public, the rising death toll has formed a vital part of our understanding of the severity of the pandemic over time. It has also informed vital policy decisions, such as when lockdowns should be lifted. But something unusual is happening to a small number of deaths in the data. These rare cases aren’t being reported to the public until much, much later than they occur – in some cases, up to nine months on.