One chart shows 10 countries' current coronavirus death rates, based on known cases and deaths. Italy's is highest: nearly 10%.

In Italy , as of Monday evening, it was about 9.5%, while in the US it was 1.2%.
The global death rate now hovers around 4.4%.
One chart compares death rates in 10 countries that have confirmed deaths and more than 5,000 cases.
Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories .

Italy reported 793 coronavirus deaths on Friday: The highest one-day death toll of any nation since the outbreak began.

The country's COVID-19 fatality rate, or death rate the number of deaths divided by the total number of cases is higher than anywhere else in the world, at about 9.5%. The US, by contrast, has a death rate of 1.2%.

A country's death rate constantly changes as new cases and deaths get reported, and it varies based on how many people get tested for COVID-19. One week ago, for example, the US' death rate was 1.7% , and Italy's was about 8%.

death rates per country as of 3 23 Business Insider/Skye Gould/Andy Kiersz, data from Johns Hopkins University

More than 400,000 people worldwide have been infected with the new coronavirus , and at least 18,000 have died.

Countries' death rates change over time

Because countries' case totals and death tolls are constantly changing as the coronavirus outbreak evolves, their death rates are not static nor is the global rate.

As of Monday evening,the global death rate hovered around 4.4%, based on data from Johns Hopkins that's higher than the World Health Organization's March 3 estimate of about 3.4% .

global death rate over time 3 23 20 insider Business Insider/Andy Kiersz, data from WHO

A recent study (which has yet to be peer-reviewed) from a group of Chinese researchers suggests the rate could be lower , though: Researchers found that the probability of a person dying after developing symptoms was about 1.4% in Wuhan.

For comparison's sake, here's what the death rates looked like on March 17:

covid 19 death rate countries with deaths and more than 1000 cases Shayanne Gal/Business Insider

The US's death rate dropped again in the week since from 1.7% to 1.2%. According to the COVID Tracking Project a testing-tracking resource from two journalists at the Atlantic and the founder of a medical data startup the number of people tested in the US almost quadrupled during that time.

Widespread testing could mean a lower death rate because most COVID-19 cases about 80% are considered mild. Often, the cases tested and reported first are those with severe symptoms, since those people go to the hospital. Milder cases, on the other hand, could go uncounted or get reported later on, so the true number of infected people is likely much higher than the reported total .

italy coronavirus Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images

The death rate of a disease is different from its mortality rate the latter is the number of deaths out of the number of people in an at-risk population. A death rate is not a reflection of the likelihood that a given person will die.

According to Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, COVID-19's mortality rate is probably around 1% , which is still about 10 times the flu's.

Tyler Sonnemaker contributed reporting to this story.

NOW WATCH: Pathologists debunk 13 myths about the coronavirus, including why masks won't help

One chart shows 10 countries' current coronavirus death rates, based on known cases and deaths. Italy's is highest: nearly 10%.

Countries' death rates change over time

JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!