Global coronavirus cases surpass 15 million: WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

The number of global COVID-19 pandemic cases has topped 15 million, with almost 620,000 deaths and almost half of all cases from the US, Brazil and India, the chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the pandemic has changed people's lifestyles and the world has entered a new normal of fighting the pandemic.

"More than fifteen million cases of COVID-19 have now been reported to WHO and almost six hundred twenty thousand deaths. Almost 10 million cases or two thirds of all cases globally are from 10 countries, and almost half of all cases reported so far are from just three countries.''

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''The pandemic has already changed the way we live our lives. Part of adjusting [to] the new normal is finding ways to live our lives safely.We must remember that most people are still susceptible to this virus. As long as it's circulating, everyone is at risk," he said.

The coronavirus pandemic hit grim new milestones Thursday, with cases topping four million in the United States and three million in Europe as fresh spikes from Belgium to Tokyo to Melbourne forced new restrictions on citizens.

While EU lawmakers combed through a huge aid package for their economies, the UN called for a basic income for the world's poorest to help slow the spread of COVID-19, and the Red Cross warned of "massive" new migration caused by the economic devastation.

The United States, the hardest-hit country by the virus, added one million new cases in just over two weeks, according to a tracker maintained by Johns Hopkins University. In the previous 24 hours alone, the country notched more than 76,000 new cases.

Having recorded more than 144,000 total fatalities, the United States has seen a coronavirus surge, particularly in southern and western states, as Texas, California, Alabama, Idaho and Florida all announced record one-day death tolls.

Meanwhile, the European continent now accounts for a fifth of the world's more than 15 million cases and remains the hardest hit in terms of deaths, with 206,633 out of 627,307 worldwide.

A 750-billion-euro post-coronavirus recovery plan was hammered out at an EU summit this week, where fiscally rigid nations butted heads with hard-hit countries like Spain and Italy that have called for huge aid grants.