Global COVID-19 cases breach 17M mark, death toll at 667,361 with 9,759,200 recoveries

PARIS, France - The novel coronavirus has killed at least 667,361 people since the outbreak emerged in China last December, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 1100 GMT on Thursday.

At least 17,053,650 cases of coronavirus have been registered in 196 countries and territories. Of these, at least 9,759,200 are now considered recovered.

The tallies, using data collected by AFP from national authorities and information from the World Health Organization (WHO), probably reflect only a fraction of the actual number of infections.

Many countries are testing only symptomatic or the most serious cases.

On Wednesday, 6,687 new deaths and 285,318 new cases were recorded worldwide. Based on latest reports, the countries with the most new deaths were Brazil with 1,595 new deaths, followed by United States with 1,267, and India with 775.

The United States is the worst-hit country with 150,716 deaths from 4,427,493 cases. At least 1,389,425 people have been declared recovered.

After the US, the hardest-hit countries are Brazil with 90,134 deaths from 2,552,265 cases, United Kingdom with 45,961 deaths from 301,455 cases, Mexico with 45,361 deaths from 408,449 cases, and Italy with 35,129 deaths from 246,776 cases.

The country with the highest number of deaths compared to its population is Belgium with 85 fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Britain with 68, Spain 61, Italy 58, and Peru 57.

China -- excluding Hong Kong and Macau -- has to date declared 84,165 cases (105 new since Wednesday), including 4,634 deaths (0 new), and 78,957 recoveries.

Europe overall has 209,358 deaths from 3,135,632 cases, Latin America and the Caribbean 191,827 deaths from 4,632,894 infections, the United States and Canada 159,664 deaths from 4,542,739 cases, Asia 60,775 deaths from 2,697,189 cases, Middle East 26,666 deaths from 1,134,152 cases, Africa 18,851 deaths from 893,051 cases, and Oceania 220 deaths from 17,994 cases.

As a result of corrections by national authorities or late publication of data, the figures updated over the past 24 hours might not correspond exactly to the previous day's tallies. -- Agence France-Presse