Global COVID-19 death toll tops 263,000: Johns Hopkins University

(ECNS) -- The number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases across the globe has surpassed 3.76 million as of Wednesday, and the virus has claimed more than 263,000 lives, according to the latest tally by Johns Hopkins University.

The confirmed cases in the United States have exceeded 1,228,000 and the death toll from the disease hit more than 73,000.

Britain has registered a total of 202,000 cases. Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced tough questions in the House of Commons as he mulls a "comprehensive" plan to ease the COVID-19 lockdown.

As more and more countries consider how to ease lockdown restrictions, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday warned that the exit measures should be done extremely carefully.

Since the beginning of April, an average of around 80,000 new cases have been reported every day, he said.

On the Chinese mainland, two new imported cases of the novel coronavirus were reported Wednesday, bringing the total number of imported cases to 1,680, the National Health Commission said on Thursday.

The total number of confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland stood at 82,885 as of Wednesday, the cumulative death toll at 4,633, and the remaining infections at 295. In addition, 880 asymptomatic patients are under medical observation.

A total of 1,524 confirmed cases have been registered in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. Among them, there are 1,040 cumulative cases in Hong Kong, 45 in Macao and 439 in Taiwan.