Worldwide coronavirus cases surpass 8.72m

More than 8.72 million people have been infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 460,299 have died, according to a Reuters tally.

Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.

The latest toll released on Saturday revelealed the worst affected countries are the US, Brazil, Russia, India, The UK and Spain.

Brazil's official coronavirus death toll is just shy of 50,000, the Health Ministry said with more than one million confirmed cases in the world number two coronavirus hotspot behind the US.

In Brazil, a total of 49,976 people have officially died from COVID-19, according to the ministry, with a total of 1,067,579 confirmed cases.Brazil passed one million cases on Friday, and 1,022 people have died in the last 24 hours, the ministry said on Saturday.

Experts say the true numbers are likely far higher due to a lack of widespread testing.

The US has more than 2.29 million cases and recorded more than 121,000 deaths.