There are now over 17 million confirmed COVID-19 cases globally, with over 667,000 fatalities and more than 9.9 million recoveries, according to the latest tally from Johns Hopkins University.

The world's third-largest COVID-19 cases load in India, with over 1.5 million people infected. The country's health ministry Rajesh Bhushan reported another record surge on Thursday. The country has added nearly 100,000 new cases almost every two days.

By Wednesday, the Chinese mainland had recorded a total of 84,165 COVID-19 cases, with 280 asymptomatic patients under medical observation. The death toll stands at 4,665, including 24 from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and seven from the Taiwan region.

The U.S. marked a grim milestone on Wednesday when its coronavirus death toll surpassed 150,000. The nation's total infections are now over 4.4 million cases.

The U.S. remains the world leader in the pandemic, accounting for roughly a quarter of both deaths and cases.Johns Hopkins University has reported Thursday afternoon, more than 4.4 million confirmed cases in the United States, and more than 151,000 people have died from the virus in the U.S..

Herman Cain, former Republican presidential candidate and co-chair of Black Voices for Trump has died from COVID-19.Cain was hospitalized this month after attending a campaign rally in June for President Trump in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Cain was one of many Trump surrogates, where up to eight advance team staff members tested positive for the virus at the rally.

Brazil’s First Lady Tested Positive

Brazil has become the second country in the world with more than 2.5 million confirmed cases. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's wife and one of his ministers have tested positive for COVID-19, according to an official statement on Thursday.

Just days after her husband said he had overcome the virus with a negative test following weeks in quarantine, Bolsonaro's wife Michelle has tested positive, the presidential office said in a statement.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's wife and one of his ministers have tested positive for COVID-19, according to an official statement on Thursday, as the spread of the novel coronavirus showed no signs of slowing in the country with the world's second-worst outbreak after the United States.

Just days after her husband said he had overcome the virus with a negative test following weeks in quarantine, Bolsonaro's wife Michelle has tested positive, the presidential office said in a statement.

"First lady Michelle Bolsonaro tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday. She is in good health and will follow all established protocols," it said, referring to the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

Earlier on Thursday, Brazil's science and technology minister, Marcos Pontes, said his test had come back positive, becoming the fifth minister in Bolsonaro's government to be diagnosed with the disease.

Their infections are a palpable sign of the scale of the outbreak in Brazil, which set fresh daily records on Wednesday for new COVID-19 cases and related fatalities.

The 69,074 new confirmed cases and 1,595 additional deaths reported by the Health Ministry, pushed the country past 2.5 million infections and 90,

Total coronavirus infections in Iran hit 301,530 on Thursday after registration of 2,621 new cases overnight, according to the state TV.

Meanwhile, 226 new death cases were registered over the past 24 hours, taking the death toll in the country to 16,569, said Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education, during her daily update. Iran announced its first cases of COVID-19 on Feb. 19.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across the African continent reached 891,199 on Thursday, the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.

The Africa CDC, a specialized healthcare agency of the 55-member African Union (AU) Commission in its latest situation update issued on Thursday, said that the number of deaths related to the COVID-19 pandemic rose to 18, 884 as of Thursday, up from 18,507 on Wednesday.

The continental disease control and prevention agency also stressed that some 540,872 patients who tested positive for COVID-19 have recovered across the continent so far.

South Africa, which has so far reported 471,123 confirmed COVID-19 positive cases, is Africa's most affected country in terms of positive cases, followed by Egypt, Nigeria, Algeria and Morocco, it was noted.

Amid the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic across the African continent, the Africa CDC on Tuesday said 34 African countries are under "full border closure" in an effort to halt the spread of the infectious virus.

Vietnam reports 45 new cases

Vietnam's health ministry reported 45 new coronavirus infections linked to a recent outbreak in the central city of Danang, marking the highest daily increase since the first cases emerged in the country in late January.

The new patients, with ages ranging from 27 to 87, are linked to four hospitals and a hotel in Danang. Total infections since the virus resurfaced have reached 93, the ministry said in a statement.

Vietnam has registered 509 cases of the virus in total, with no deaths. The country had recorded 100 days without a locally transmission case before the reemergence of the virus.