Global COVID-19 cases top 56.8 million: Johns Hopkins

The overall number of global coronavirus cases has topped 56.8 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 1.35 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

In its latest update on Friday, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and death toll stood at 56,817,667 and 1,358,489, respectively.

The US is the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 11,710,084 and 252,484, respectively, according to the CSSE.

India comes in second place in terms of cases at 8,958,483, while the country's death toll soared to 131,578.

The other countries with more than a million confirmed cases are Brazil (5,981,767), France (2,137,096), Russia (1,998,966), Spain (1,541,574), the UK (1,456,940), Argentina (1,349,434), Italy (1,308,528), Colombia (1,225,490) and Mexico (1,015,071), the CSSE figures showed.

Brazil currently accounts for the second highest number of fatalities at 168,061.

The countries with a death toll above 20,000 are Mexico (99,528), the UK (53,870), Italy (47,870), France (47,201), Iran (43,417), Spain (42,291), Argentina (36,532), Peru (35,317), Colombia (34,761), Russia (34,525) and South Africa (20,671).