Global coronavirus cases surge to 4.7 million, death toll at 315,244

Cases of infections of the deadly coronavirus surpassed 4.7 million worldwide on Friday as COVID-19 spreads across Europe, North America and South Asia.

COVID-19 has now infected  4,716,931 people worldwide and 315,244 people have been killed due to this pandemic. Around  1,734,631 people of that tally have recovered.

A few days ago, the World Health Organization (WHO) had claimed how lifting lockdowns too early could lead to a second wave and would be a catastrophe.

The epicentre of the pandemic has shifted twice, first from China to Europe, and then from Europe to the United States.

Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University have reported in its map that the United States has taken the grim title of the country with the most coronavirus infections and reported a record surge in unemployment.

The US is the worst-hit country with nearly 90,000 deaths and over 1.4 million confirmed COVID-19 cases.US economy, the world's largest, has been thrown into a recession due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Some scientific models suggest the figure will rise to 3,000 a day by June.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has urged countries to investigate any early suspicious cases of the coronavirus before December 2019 when the first human cases were officially identified in China's Wuhan. 

The disease later identified as COVID-19 was first reported by Chinese authorities to the WHO on December 31 and was not previously believed to have spread to Europe until January.

(With inputs from agencies)