A health worker wearing a protective suit pose for a portrait in the new triage center for Covid-19 at Santa Maria Hospital, which opened today to help in the reception of patients in Lisbon, Portugal, on January 29, 2021. Portugal is reporting new daily records of COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations as a recent pandemic surge continues unabated. (Photo by Pedro Fiúza/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
© Yahoo News UK Portugal's current coronavirus death rate is four times higher than the European average, figures have revealed.
It remains the country with the worst COVID-19 death rate in the world, after it took the top spot from the UK last week.
Statistics compiled by the University of Oxford research platform Our World In Data showed Portugal had a rate of 28.2 deaths per million people, based on the rolling seven-day average for daily new confirmed COVID-19 deaths.
© Provided by Yahoo! News UKLISBON, PORTUGAL - 2021/01/29: Ambulances waiting in a queue amid Covid-19 pandemic. Dozens of ambulances line up to drop off patients infected with Covid-19 at the Santa Maria hospital in Lisbon. The wait can take up to 12 hours. While waiting, patients receive assistance inside the emergency vehicles. (Photo by Hugo Amaral/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The average death rate for the European Union was 7.51 on Saturday, according to Our World In Data.
The UK remains in second position, with 17.34 deaths per million, followed by Lebanon with 15.95, Slovakia with 15.02 and Monaco with 14.56. Ireland is in tenth spot with 9.75 COVID-19 deaths per million people.
In the middle of January, the UK had the worst COVID-19 death rate in the world, but the government insisted it was "too early" to explain why.
© Yahoo News A week later, it was replaced by Portugal at the top of the list.
Video: Covid-19 pandemic in Portugal: Country faces world's worst virus surge (France 24)
Covid-19 pandemic in Portugal: Country faces world's worst virus surge
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According to Johns Hopkins University, there have been more than 12,480 COVID-19 deaths in Portugal and more than 720,500 cases.
Watch: Labour leader questions PM on UK's COVID death rate
On Monday, Portugal said that almost half of all its COVID-19 deaths had occurred in January.
The country of 10 million people was largely spared by the first waves of the coronavirus pandemic when it began last spring, but hospitals there are now reportedly on the brink of collapse.
Officials have blamed the increase in death rates and infections on the spread of the more contagious UK coronavirus variant.
They have also said a relaxation of restrictions over the Christmas period added to the spread of the virus.
In January, a total of 5,576 people died from COVID-19, making up 44.7% of all deaths since last March.
The association representing funeral homes warned that public hospitals were running out of refrigerated space to preserve bodies of COVI-19 victims.
Only about 70,000 people in Portugal have received two doses of a coronavirus vaccine.
Those aged 80 and over started to receive their jabs on Monday.
There are more than 6,600 COVID-19 patients in Portuguese hospital wards, with 858 in intensive care.
Watch: What UK government COVID-19 support is available?