Global COVID-19 cases cross 20 million mark

The world is marking a grim milestone on Tuesday with the number of people who have been infected with Covid-19 passing 20 million.

There have been more than 736,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Worst affected is the US, which has recorded more than a quarter of all cases – five million – and the most deaths. Brazil has recorded three million cases; India 2.2 million; Russia almost 900,000 and South Africa 560,000.

It took 38 days for global cases to go from five to 10 million between May and June but only 24 days to then reach 15 million by  July 22.

Covid-19 was first detected in the city of Wuhan, China, in late 2019. The outbreak was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization on  March 11.