Global COVID-19 cases climb to 77.7 million, death toll rises to 1,709,295

Washington, December 22, 2020

The total number of confirmed coronavirus (COVID-19) cases across the world climbed to 77,708,508 today while the global death toll rose to 1,709,295.

A dashboard maintained by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at the Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking the pandemic, showed that the United States remains the worst-hit country with 320,551 deaths, and a total of 18.080 million cases so far.

Within the US, New York state accounted for 36,568 deaths, followed by 25,941 deaths in Texas, 22,929 in California, 20,680 in Florida, 18,326 in New Jersey, 16,527 in Illinois, 14,107 in Pennsylvania, 12,153 in Michigan and 11,759 in Massachusetts.

India is in the second spot in terms of cases, with 10,075,116 cases as of this morning. It has reported 146,111 deaths so far – the third highest in the world.

Brazil is in third place after India, with a total of more than 7.263 million cases and 187,291 deaths as of today – the second highest after the US.

Mexico has reported the fourth highest number of deaths at 118,598 with a total of 1,325,915 cases so far – the 13th highest in the world.

Italy is in fifth place in terms of the number of deaths at 69,842 with 1,977,370 cases in all so far, at the eighth place in the world.

The United Kingdom has reported the sixth highest number of deaths at 68,409, with a total of 2,116,567 cases so far – the sixth highest in the world.

France has the fifth highest number of cases with 2,535,878 cases and 61,019 deaths -- the seventh highest in the world.

Spain has the ninth highest number of cases with 1,819,249 cases and 49,260 deaths -- the tenth highest in the world.

Russia is in the fourth place in terms of the number of cases, with 2,878,382 cases with 51,274 deaths, the ninth highest among all countries.

Among other countries, Iran has reported 54,003 deaths, Argentina 41,997, Colombia 40,680, Peru 37,173, Germany 27,425, Poland 25,783, South Africa 24,907, Indonesia 20,257, Belgium 18,697, Turkey 18,602, Ukraine 17,535, Chile 16,217, and Romania 14,636.

In South Asia, Pakistan has reported 460,672 cases and 9,474 deaths so far while Bangladesh has reported 503,501 cases and 7,32 9deaths.

China, where the pandemic first broke out in December before it spread around the world, has reported 4,634 deaths so far on the mainland, with no new deaths reported in the past several weeks.

NNN