A person wearing a mask walks through Green Park in central London on November 8, 2020 during a second national lockdown designed to contain soaring infections of the novel coronavirus. (Photo: AFP)

The total number of deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide has increased to 1,255,045 with the global confirmed cases reaching 50,313,694 as of 9 am BJT on Monday, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Current status (data as of 9 am BJT, November 9):

The coronavirus has hit another sobering milestone: more than 50 million positive cases worldwide since the pandemic began.

The COVID-19 test positivity rate in the focus areas under the micro-cluster strategy, where the pandemic has been the most severe in New York State, was 3.72 percent on Saturday, down from 4.22 percent one day earlier, tweeted Governor Andrew Cuomo on Sunday.

Canada reported a total of 264,045 cases of COVID-19 and 10,522 deaths as of Sunday afternoon, according to CTV.

Iran reported 459 deaths on Sunday related to COVID-19, making it the highest daily death toll since the outbreak of the virus in the country. Meanwhile, Iraq's tally of infections approached 500,000 with 2,530 new cases reported during the day.

Chile has carried out more tests to detect novel coronavirus (COVID-19) infection than any other country in Latin America, with 42,071 tests done in the past 24 hours alone, Chilean Health Minister Enrique Paris said on Sunday.