Worldwide Coronavirus Death Toll Surpasses 600,000

The death toll from the coronavirus pandemic has hit 601,213, according to the tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Meanwhile, The number of coronavirus cases worldwide has hit 14.2 million, while more than 7.9 million people have recovered.

US deaths from the novel coronavirus exceeded 140,000 on Saturday as cases continued to rise in 43 out of 50 states over the past two weeks, according to both Johns Hopkins University and Reuters tallies. The number of cases in the US has also hit 3.7 million, with 1.1 million recoveries.

The World Health Organization reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases for the second day in a row, with the total rising by 259,848 in 24 hours. The biggest increases reported were from the United States, Brazil, India and South Africa, according to a daily report.

Leaders of the European Union have agreed to extend their summit until Sunday after they failed to agree on a massive stimulus fund to revive their coronavirus-hammered economies.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has denounced the lockdown measures used to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus in his country, saying these measures will “kill” and have “suffocated” the nation’s economy. Brazil’s economy is expected to contract 6.4 per cent this year due to the pandemic.

—aljazeera