The global count of reported COVID-19 cases crossed 500000, according to data compiled by the John Hopkins University.
The US now has more coronavirus cases than any other country after more than 16,000 COVID-19 infections were reported there in a single day, taking the number of patients in America to over 85,600. With at least 263 deaths, it also reported the most number of fatalities due to the contagion on a single day on Thursday, 26 March. At least 1,290 Americans have died due to coronavirus so far, the website reported.
America leads with 85,653 COVID-19 total cases, followed by China with 81,782 and Italy with 80,589 infections, the data showed.
Meanwhile, Italy recorded the highest number of deaths as its death toll crossed 8000.
At least 122,627 have recovered from the disease and 24,072 have died.
This time last month, there were only 82,700 confirmed global cases, and a month before that, under 3,000 people had tested positive, Forbes reported.
The new coronavirus pandemic is clearly "accelerating", the World Health Organisation warned on Monday, but said it was still possible to "change the trajectory" of the outbreak.
"The pandemic is accelerating," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told journalists in a virtual news briefing, saying "it took 67 days from the first reported case to reach the first 100,000 cases, 11 days for the second 100,000 cases and just four days for the third 100,000 cases."
But he said that "we are not helpless bystanders. We can change the trajectory of this pandemic."
(With inputs from PTI)
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