Coronavirus: Global death toll climbs over 15,000

The global death toll from novel coronavirus soared past 15,000 on Monday, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University in the U.S.

The virus, which emerged in Wuhan, China last December, has spread to at least 167 countries and regions around the globe, while a total of 15,308 people have died and the tally of confirmed cases exceeds 349,000.

In all, 100,165 people diagnosed with COVID-19 have recovered from the disease so far.

Italy, China, Spain and Iran continue to be the most affected countries.

Although China has the most confirmed cases with nearly 81,500, Italy recorded the most coronavirus-related deaths with 5,476 fatalities in more than 59,100 cases. China, the ground zero of the virus, followed Italy with 3,153 deaths.

Over 1,800 people have died in Spain, while the current death toll is nearly 1,700 in Iran. Spain's confirmed cases near 30,000 as Iran's approach 22,000.

Many countries have restricted flights from the most affected places and gone through lockdowns as the World Heath Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a pandemic and Europe the new epicenter of the disease.

The Johns Hopkins figures far exceed the official tally compiled by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which are updated daily, but only for cases reported by 04.00 p.m. local time (2000GMT) the preceding day.