Global COVID-19 cases surge past 4.4mn: Johns Hopkins

The number of global coronavirus cases has increased to over 4.4 million, while the death toll has surpassed 302,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

As of Friday morning, the overall number of cases stood at 4,440,989, while the death toll increased to 302,376, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed in its latest update.

The US currently accounts for the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 1,417,512 and 85,886, respectively.

In terms of cases, Russia had the second highest number of infections at 252,245, followed by the UK (234,440), Spain (229,540), Italy (223,096), Brazil (202,918), France (178,994), Germany (174,478), Turkey (144,749) and Iran (114,533), the CSSE figures showed.

Meanwhile, the UK accounted for the second highest COVID-19 deaths worldwide at 33,693.

The other countries with over 10,000 deaths are Italy (31,368), France (27,428), Spain (27,321), and Brazil (13,993).