UK reports world's highest COVID-19 transmission, deaths rates
The United Kingdom now has the highest COVID-19 transmission and death rates of any country in the world, according to the World Health Organization's weekly epidemiological report released Wednesday.
With 383.1 new cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 residents, the U.K.'s transmission rate is higher than that of the United States, which decreased by 20% over the previous week to 380.6 new cases per 100,000 residents. But the UK appears to be moving in the right direction -- this week showed a 24% decrease in new cases confirmed from the previous week, the report said.
![PHOTO: A funeral takes place at a South East London Muslim cemetery on Jan. 27, 2021, in London.](https://s.abcnews.com/images/Health/coronavirus-03-united-kingdom-gty-jc-210127_1611765847526_hpEmbed_3x2_992.jpg)
The U.K.'s COVID-19 death rate is also the world's highest, with 12.9 fatalities from the disease per 100,000 residents. The country -- which is made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland -- saw a 13% increase in new deaths over the previous week, according to the report.
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In the U.S., the COVID-19 death rate went down by 7% to 6.5 fatalities per 100,000 residents, the report said.
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As of Monday, 70 countries have detected cases of a new, more contagious variant of the novel coronavirus that was first identified in the U.K., while 31 nations have cases of another variant that first emerged in South Africa and eight countries have cases of a variant that was first identified in Brazil, according to the report.
ABC News’ Christine Theodorou contributed to this report.