NEW YORK, April 14. /TASS/. Confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus around the world are nearing 2 mln, the Johns Hopkins University, which keeps track of information available from the federal and local authorities, has revealed.

According to its data, 1,919,913 people have been diagnosed with the coronavirus globally. Some 119,666 people have died of the disease caused by this virus.

The most challenging situation is now in the United States, with 581,918 coronavirus cases and 23,608 deaths. In Spain, 170,099 people have been infected and 17,756 have died, and in Italy, 159,516 people have a confirmed coronavirus and 20,465 have died. Some 137,000 people have contracted the coronavirus in France, 130,000 in Germany and 89,000 in the United Kingdom.

In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus - named COVID-19 by the WHO - have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia. On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.