COVID-19 cases continue global advance, toll above 54,000

The global coronavirus toll was over 54,000 on Friday evening with Italy (13,915), Spain (10,935) and the US (6,058) accounting for well over half the fatalities, while the number of cases were fast approaching a million, as per the Johns Hopkins University's Coronavirus Resource Centre.

As of around 5 p.m., the toll stood at 54,137 and the total number of cases around the world at 1,033,478.

France, at 5,387 deaths, was at fourth place and was followed by China, from where the disease outbreak was first reported with 3,326 (3,203 of them in Hubei province, where epicentre Wuhan is located), and Iran at 3,294 deaths.

The US had the maximum cases at 245,573, while Spain with 117,710, overtook Italy, with 115,242, and Germany with 85,063, zoomed ahead of China's 82,509.

On the other hand, 218,864 people have recovered worldwide, led by China with 76,760, Spain with 30,513, 22,400 recovered in Germany, 18,278 recovered in Italy, and 17,935 in Iran. IANS