Global COVID-19 cases top 35.3 million, deaths cross one million

NEW YORK: The overall number of global coronavirus cases has topped 35.3 million, while the deaths have increased to more than 1,042,600, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

As of Tuesday, the total number of cases stood at 35,396,981 and the fatalities rose to 1,042,679, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed in its latest update.

The US is the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 7,455,184 and 210,155, respectively, according to the CSSE.

India on Monday registered a sharp drop of 59,773 in the number of new Covid-19 cases, taking the tally to 6,681,953. With 886 fatalities in 24 hours, India's death toll stands at 103,600. The head of emergencies at the World Health Organization, Dr Michael Ryan, says its best estimates indicate that roughly one in 10 people worldwide may have been infected by the coronavirus. Experts have long said that the number of confirmed cases greatly underestimates the true figure.

The other top 15 countries with the maximum amount of cases are Brazil (4,915,289), Russia (1,219,796), Colombia (862,158), Peru (828,169), Spain (813,412), Argentina (809,728), Mexico (789,780), South Africa (682,215), France (664,289), the UK (518,222), Iran (475,674), Chile (471,746), Iraq (382,949), Bangladesh (370,132), and Saudi Arabia (336,766), the CSSE figures showed.

Brazil currently accounts for the second highest number of fatalities at 146,352.

The countries with a death toll above 10,000 are Mexico (81,877), the UK (42,459), Italy (36,002), Peru (32,742), France (32,317), Spain (32,225), Iran (27,192), Colombia (26,844), Argentina (21,468), Russia (21,375), South Africa (17,016), Chile (13,037), Ecuador (11,681), Indonesia (11,253) and Belgium (10,064).