Employees disinfect a closed mall in Mumbai, India, July 30, 2020. India recorded the highest ever single-day spike of 55,078 of fresh COVID-19 cases on Friday, taking the total tally to 1,638,870, according to the federal health ministry's latest data.  (File photo: Xinhua)

The total number of deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide has increased to 677,279 with the global confirmed cases reaching 17,497,354 as of 9 am BJT on Saturday, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University (JHU).

Current situation (data as of 9 am BJT, August 1):

Chinese health authorities on Saturday said that 45 new COVID-19 cases were reported on the Chinese mainland on Friday, of which 39 were domestically transmitted and six were imported, with no additional deaths.

The number of COVID-19 cases surpassed 4.5 million with over 152,000 deaths in the United States on Friday as a national debate over school reopening persists.

Brazil on Friday reported a daily increase of 1,212 COVID-19 deaths, taking the national death toll to 92,475.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across the African continent reached 908,931 on Friday, the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.

The Peruvian government extended on Friday the national state of emergency and quarantine in an attempt to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Iran exceeded 304,000 on Friday. Meanwhile, Iraq reported 3,346 new COVID-19 cases, the highest daily increase since the outbreak of the disease in the country.

Spain's Ministry of Health reported on Friday 1,525 new coronavirus cases, the biggest spike since the lockdown was lifted in June.