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UK has worst daily Covid death rate in the world, Oxford research shows

 (REUTERS)
(REUTERS)

Britain currently has the worst daily coronavirus death rate in the world, data shows.

The figures, collated by an Oxford University research platform, showed an average of 935 daily deaths over the last week was the equivalent of more than 16 people in every million dying each day with Covid.

The research platform Our World in Data shows no other country currently has a higher death rate per capita.

The UK overtook the Czech Republic, which had the highest death rate since January 11 at 16.3, after publishing its latest death figures on Sunday night, when there were 671.

And the country’s death rate could surge further still, as death statistics at weekends and on Mondays in the UK tend to be lower due to a reporting lag.

It comes as a further 599 virus deaths were reported in the UK, bringing the total number of deaths within 28 days of a positive test to 89,860. Meanwhile, another 37,535 confirmed s cases were also recorded in the last 24 hours.

This compares with figures released on Sunday of 671 further deaths and 38,598 confirmed cases.

Public Health England (PHE) has also confirmed 4,062,501 people have received a first dose of a Covid vaccine, with 24-hour vaccination sites set to be piloted in London before the end of January.

Boris Johnson warned on Monday that the UK is still in a "pretty precarious" position as ministers prepare for the easing of lockdown restrictions from early March.

The Prime Minister said the process would be gradual, with no great "open sesame" moment when curbs on freedoms are suddenly lifted.

Mr Johnson said: "I understand completely that people want to get back to normal as fast as we possibly can. It does depend on things going well.

"It depends on the vaccination programme going well, it depends on there being no new variants that throw our plans out and we have to mitigate against, and it depends on everybody, all of us, remembering that we're not out of the woods yet."

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