People wearing masks walk on the street in central Nice, southern France, Aug. 4, 2020. (Photo: Xinhua)

The total number of deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide has increased to 701,278 with the global confirmed cases reaching 18,566,769 as of 8:00 pm BJT on Wednesday, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Current status (data as of 8:00 pm BJT, Aug 5):

Latin America has broken through 5 million cases with more than 206,000 deaths.

India's health ministry on Wednesday announced that the country has surpassed 1.9 million COVID-19 cases, reaching 1,908,254.

Russia registered 5,204 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking its total to 866,627, the country's COVID-19 response center said in a statement Wednesday.

Australia recorded its worst day of the coronavirus pandemic as the nation's death toll climbed to 247 after Victorian authorities announced 15 deaths on Wednesday.

The White House and congressional Democrats aim to strike a deal on the next COVID-19 relief bill by the end of this week, while the two sides remain far apart on some important issues, according to U.S. media.

South Korea reported 33 more cases of COVID-19 as of 0:00 a.m. Wednesday local time compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 14,456. The daily caseload stayed above 30 for two straight days due to small cluster infections and imported cases.