Women wearing face masks walk beside a river in Tonekabon city, northern Iran, on June 16, 2020.  (Photo: Xinhua)

The total number of deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide has increased to 449,397 with the global confirmed cases reaching 8,367,894 as of 7:30 pm BJT on Thursday, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Current status (data as of 7:30 pm BJT, June 18):

Beijing's epidemic situation is under control and the number of new cases is expected to drop in the coming days, said Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, on Thursday.

Russia added 7,790 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking its total to 561,091, the country's coronavirus response center said in a statement Thursday.

India's federal health ministry Thursday morning said 334 new deaths due to COVID-19, besides fresh 12,881 positive cases, were reported during the past 24 hours across the country, taking the number of deaths to 12,237 and the total cases to 366,946.

Iran on Thursday reported 2,596 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 197,647, the state TV reported.

Kazakhstan's first president Nursultan Nazarbayev has tested positive for COVID-19 and is undergoing self-isolation, the press service of the first president announced in a statement on Thursday.