Surging cases bring new deaths milestone

With 500,000 killed, pandemic tightens hold on Americas, deepens Africa reach

WASHINGTON－The coronavirus continues to ravage the world, with the death toll topping 500,000, swelled by the pandemic's tightening grip on the Americas. As cases surge there, Africa is emerging as a new focus of concern.

The half-million mark for global deaths from COVID-19 was passed on Sunday, according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University in the United States. It logged the fatalities at 501,940, while the number of confirmed cases reached 10,146,971.

By Sunday, the United States had reported more than 2.5 million infections and at least 125,700 deaths. It remains the country worst hit by the pandemic.