Health workers applaud as people react from their houses in support of the medical staff that are working on the COVID-19 virus outbreak at the Gregorio Maranon hospital in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, April 1, 2020. (Photo: AP)

NEW YORK, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Global confirmed COVID-19 cases surpassed 1.5 million on Wednesday afternoon local time, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

The fresh figure reached 1,500,830 as of 5:15 p.m. (2115 GMT) with 87,706 deaths, the CSSE said.

The United States led the world with 423,135 cases. Spain and Italy followed with 146,690 and 139,422 cases, respectively. Countries with over 100,000 cases also include France and Germany, according to the data compiled by the CSSE.

Over 180 countries and regions have been impacted by the novel coronavirus, and more than 317,800 people have recovered from the disease, according to the data.