Global COVID-19 cases top 9.5 mn

Washington DC: The overall number of global COVID-19 cases has topped 9.5 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 488,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

By Friday morning, the total number of cases stood at 9,583,144, while the fatalities increased to 488,740, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed in its latest update.

With 2,418,570 cases and 124,355 deaths, the US continues with the world's highest number of COVID-19 infections and fatalities, according to the CSSE.

Meanwhile, the national death toll reached 122,370, according to the tally, Xinhua reported.

New York remains the hardest-hit state with 390,415 cases and 31,276 fatalities. Other states with over 100,000 cases include California, New Jersey, Illinois, Texas, Florida, and Massachusetts, the tally showed.

The number of people in the US who have tested positive for the novel Coronavirus is likely to be 10 times as higher than the over 2.4 million confirmed cases currently reported, the chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.

CDC Director Robert Redfield's estimate, shared with reporters in a conference call on Thursday, was based on antibody tests, reports Xinhua news agency.

It indicates that at least 24 million Americans have been infected so far.

Brazil comes in the second place with 1,228,114 infections and 54,971 deaths.

In terms of cases, Russia ranks third (613,148), and is followed by India (473,105), the UK (309,455), Peru (268,602), Chile (259,064), Spain (247,486), Italy (239,706), Iran (215,096), Mexico (202,951), France (197,885), Germany (193,371), Turkey (193,115), Pakistan (192,970), Saudi Arabia (170,639), Bangladesh (126,606), South Africa (118,375) and Canada (104,463), the CSSE figures showed.

The other countries with over 10,000 deaths are the UK (43,314), Italy (34,644), France (29,755), Spain (28,330), Mexico (25,060), India (14,894) and Iran (10,130).

Meanwhile, another 149 Covid-19 patients have died in Britain, bringing the total Coronavirus-related death toll in the country to 43,230, the British Department of Health and Social Care said on Thursday.

The figures include deaths in all settings, including hospitals, care homes and the wider community.

As of Thursday morning, 307,980 people have tested positive for the disease in Britain, a daily increase of 1,118, according to the department, Xinhua reported.

As of Thursday morning, there have been 8,710,292 tests of the novel Coronavirus in the country, with 167,023 tests on Wednesday, said the department.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Tuesday that the current 2-metre social distancing rule will be loosened from July 4 to "1 metre plus" in England so as to further ease the Coronavirus lockdown.

Johnson also announced that from July 4, pubs, restaurants and hairdressers, among others, will be able to reopen, providing they adhere to Covid-19 prevention guidelines.

However, some experts have warned that the chances of catching Covid-19 are going up in Britain.

Russia on Friday reported 6,800 new Coronavirus cases, the first daily rise below 7,000 since late April, taking its nationwide tally to 620,794.

The country's Coronavirus response centre said 176 people had died of the virus in the last 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 8,781, news agency Reuters reported.

Meanwhile, Chinese health authority said on Friday it received reports of 13 newly confirmed Covid-19 cases in the Chinese mainland on Thursday, including 11 domestically transmitted and two imported ones.