Confirmed COVID-19 cases surpass 200,000 globally

Screenshot of the data from the website of the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, March 18, 2020. /CGTN

The tally of confirmed cases in the COVID-19 pandemic has surpassed 200,000, according to the latest statistics of the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

By 7:33 a.m. local time (1133 GMT) Wednesday, the number of confirmed infections outside China reached 120,532, with Italy leading the rank by 31,506 cases, followed by Iran (16,169) and Spain (13,716).

The fast-spreading disease has also claimed 8,007 lives so far. Outside China, Italy suffered the most deaths of 2,503, followed by Iran (988) and Spain (558), according to the center.