Global COVID-19 death toll passes 900K; cases near 28M

Sept. 10 (UPI) -- As the number of COVID-19 infections inched closer to the 28 million milestone, the global death toll surpassed 900,000 over Wednesday, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University.

The researchers at the Baltimore university early Thursday had tallied 903,756 COVID-19 deaths worldwide, adding 6,303 in the last 24 hours.

The number of infections also climbed by nearly 300,000 over Wednesday, equalling 27.87 million since the first case was diagnosed in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December.

Nearly a third of Wednesday's cases were counted in India, where health officials tabulated a single-day record of 95,735 infections.

India, the world's second-most populated country with 1.38 billion people, has repeatedly set and then broken daily infection records since late last month as it struggles to contain the virus, which has spread exponentially within its borders since its first cases were diagnosed in late January.

Its ministry of health said nearly half of all its cases are located in the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

The Asian nation jumped Brazil earlier this week to second in the world in infections, and with 4.46 million cases, it is closing the gap with the United States, the world's sickest nation with 6.3 million infections.

India also reported 1,172 deaths over Wednesday for a total of 75,062, which puts it third behind Brazil's 128,539 deaths.