Europe and US loosen their lockdowns as death toll worldwide continues to rise hitting 269,000 out of 3.8 million cases. Data compiled by a US university shows the number of confirmed coronavirus cases has topped 3.7 million worldwide.

Johns Hopkins University says the total number of cases globally hit 3,784,085 as of 18:00 UTC on Thursday.

Almost 269,000 reported killed worldwide from the disease with cases up to 3.8 million and 1.3 recovered. Cases in the US have reached 1.25 million with 75,500 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally.

The United States topped the list with 1,231,992 cases, followed by Spain with 220,325, Italy with 214,457, Britain with 202,359, and Russia with 177,160.

The US had the most fatalities at 73,573, followed by Britain at 30,150, Italy at 29,684, Spain at 25,857, and France at 25,812.

As Europe and the US loosen their lockdowns against the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, health experts are expressing growing dread over what they say is an all-but-certain second wave of deaths and infections that could force governments to clamp back down.

The coronavirus pandemic could kill between 83,000 and 190,000 people in Africa in the first year and infect between 29 million and 44 million during that period if it is not contained, the WHO has warned.

Russia's coronavirus cases, which now stand at over 177,000, have overtaken France and Germany to become the fifth-highest total in the world after a record daily rise and the epicentre of the virus in Europe.