Coronavirus tally: Global cases of COVID-19 top 24 million, 826,158 deaths and U.S. death toll nears 180,000

The global tally for confirmed cases of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 climbed to 24.2 million on Thursday, with the death toll rising to 826,158,according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University. At least 15.8 million people are confirmed to have recovered. The U.S. has by far the most cases at 5.8 million, and the most deaths at 179,735. There was continued alarm at the news that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has modified its testing guidelines and will now exclude people with no symptoms, even if they have been exposed to an infected patient. As many cases are people who are not showing symptoms, experts fear it will lead to less testing and less reliable data on spread. The change came after pressure on health officials from the White House, the New York Times reported. Brazil is second with 3.7 million cases and 117,665 deaths. India is third measured by cases at 3.3 million, followed by Russia with 972,972 and South Africa with 615,701. Mexico has 573,888 cases and 62,076 deaths, the third highest in the world. India now has 60,472 deaths, putting it ahead of The U.K. That country has 330,967 cases and 41,552 fatalities, the highest in Europe and fifth highest in the world. China, where the illness was first reported late last year, has 89,784 cases, and 4,713 fatalities

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