Global COVID-19 cases top 43.9 million: Johns Hopkins University

The overall number of global coronavirus cases has increased to over 43.9 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 1,166,190, according to the Johns Hopkins University. As of Wednesday morning, the total number of cases stood at 43,907,193, while the death toll surged to 1,166,193, 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 8,777,038 and 226,691, respectively, according to the CSSE. India comes in second place in terms of cases at 7,946,429, while the country's death toll soared to 119,502.

The other top 15 countries with the maximum amount of cases are Brazil (5,439,641), Russia (1,537,142), France (1,244,242), Spain (1,116,738), Argentina (1,116,609), Colombia (1,033,218), the UK (920,664), Mexico (920,664), Peru (890,574), South Africa (717,851), Iran (581,824), Italy (564,778), Chile (503,598), Germany (463,419) and Iraq (459,908), the CSSE figures showed.

Brazil currently accounts for the second highest number of fatalities at 157,946. The countries with a death toll above 10,000 are Mexico (89,814), the UK (45,455), Italy (37,700), France (35,582), Spain (35,298), Peru (34,197), Iran (33,299), Colombia (30,565), Argentina (29,730), Russia (26,409), South Africa (19,053), Chile (14,026), Indonesia (13,512), Ecuador (12,588), Belgium (10,899), Iraq (10,724), Germany (10,121) and Canada (10,052).