People sit at marked places to keep distance as they take part in a small church service at the St. Marien church in Dortmund, western Germany, on December 25, 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo: AFP)

The total number of deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide has increased to 1,744,105 with the global confirmed cases reaching 79,469,709 as of 8:30 pm BJT on Friday, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Current status (data as of 8:30 pm BJT, December 25):

More than 25 million coronavirus cases have been officially recorded in Europe, according to an AFP tally based on official health statistics at 1100 GMT on Friday.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Friday said it was not needed to declare a national state of emergency, as COVID-19 infections continued to surge in the capital Tokyo and other areas.

Germany reported its first case of the new COVID-19 variant on Thursday in a woman who flew in from Britain, local health authorities said. The patient arrived via Frankfurt airport on Dec. 20 and tested positive upon arrival. Further virus sequencing of the sample at the National Coronavirus Consulting Laboratory in Berlin showed it was a case of variant B.1.1.7.

California on Thursday became the first state in the United States to surpass 2 million COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, said authorities.

Indian government is gearing up for the COVID-19 vaccine rollout nationwide with a dry run for vaccine administration scheduled for next week in four states, officials said Friday.The four states are Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, and Punjab.