A gravedigger gets ready to work during a funeral at the San Isidro cemetery in Azcapotzalco, in Mexico City on August 6, 2020, amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. (Photo: AFP)

The number of coronavirus cases recorded worldwide has passed 19 million, according to an AFP tally from official sources at 2300 GMT Thursday.

At least 19,000,553 cases and 712,315 deaths have now been registered.

Forty percent of cases were in the United States and Brazil, the two worst-affected countries with 4,870,367 cases (159,864 deaths) and 2,912,212 infections (98,493 deaths) respectively.