The UK has overtaken Sweden to again have the highest coronavirus per capita death rate in the world, according to University of Oxford researchers.
Although cases are declining overall, the UK had 4.54 deaths per million residents per day on a rolling seven-day average, according to figures from the Our World in Data website.
It is slightly higher than Sweden’s rate of 4.51, the researchers found.
Britain and Sweden are followed by Brazil (4.4), tiny San Marino (4.21) and the US (3.52) based on data for the week up to Monday.
Excluding San Marino, given its small population of 34,000, Belgium still has the highest per capita death rate over the entire course of the pandemic, followed by Italy, the UK, France and Sweden.
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The data should be approached with caution given that population sizes vary and some countries, such as Belgium, include suspected cases in their daily death tolls, while others only count confirmed infections.
The Our World in Data website states: “Limited testing and challenges in the attribution of the cause of death means that the number of confirmed deaths may not be an accurate count of the true number of deaths from COVID-19.”
According to Johns Hopkins University, which has been tracking coronavirus since the outbreak erupted in China, almost 5.5 million cases have been confirmed worldwide as of Tuesday morning.
More than 346,000 deaths have been attributed to Covid-19.
The US has the most cases (1.6 million), followed by Brazil (almost 375,000), Russia (more than 353,000), the UK (just over 262,500) and Spain (235,400).
America also has the highest number of deaths, with 98,223.
The UK is second in the world with 36,996.
Italy is third with 32,877, followed by France with 28,460 and Spain with 26,834.
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The data emerged as Britons were urged to use common sense as the warm weather continues this week.
People are being reminded to practise social distancing as some councils ask day-trippers not to visit their beaches or beauty spots to prevent overcrowding.
Thousands flocked to beaches in places such as Bournemouth, Brighton and Southend on bank holiday Monday, raising concerns about social distancing.
Police were called to a lido in north London amid reports of one large group gathering, while people were also warned not to overcrowd beaches as sunseekers made the most of the fine weather.
While new cases and deaths from coronavirus have fallen nationally, a hospital in Somerset was forced to close this weekend due to a high number of Covid-19 patients.
Weston General Hospital, in Weston-super-Mare, stopped accepting new admissions, including into its A&E department from 8am on Monday.
As the hospital shut as a precautionary measure, some residents in Weston reported concern over high numbers of people enjoying a day at the seaside.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Monday that all non-essential shops will be able to reopen in England on June 15 as part of plans to further ease the lockdown.