Global coronavirus death toll tops 140,000

The US has the most deaths with 31,590 fatalities, followed by Italy with 22,170 and Spain's 19,130.

PARIS (AFP) - The global coronavirus death toll passed 140,000, with nearly two thirds of all fatalities in Europe, according to an AFP tally Thursday at 1800 GMT.

In total, 140,902 people have died of the virus, including 92,900 in Europe, the hardest hit continent in the world.

There are now more than 2.1 million recorded infections globally, nearly half of which are in Europe.

The United States has the most deaths with 31,590 fatalities, followed by Italy with 22,170 and Spain s 19,130.

The tallies were collated using data collected by AFP from national authorities and information from the World Health Organization (WHO).

The pandemic has claimed another 753 lives in the last 24 hours in France, bringing the country s total fatalities to 17,920, top French health official Jerome Salomon. But the number of virus patients hospitalised dropped by 474 and the number in critical care declined by 209, the health ministry s number two official said. "The spread of the virus is stabilising at a high level," he said.

Among the dead were 11,060 who died in a hospital and 6,860 in care homes or other establishments, he said. The global coronavirus death toll has passed 140,000, with nearly two thirds of all fatalities in Europe, according to an AFP tally Thursday at 1800 GMT.

There are now more than 2.1 million recorded infections globally, nearly half of which are in Europe.