MOSCOW, March 25. /TASS/. The overall number of deaths in novel coronavirus patients worldwide doubled since March 20 and topped 20,000, according to aggregated data based on official statements and expert data from more than 150 countries.

As of 21:30 Moscow time Wednesday the number of those infected worldwide topped 433,000, approximately 4.71% of them - or about 20,400 people - died.

The worst-hit country outside China, where the disease broke out in late December 2019, is Italy, which reported 74,386 cases, 10.09% of them fatal (7,503 people). The United States is the runner-up (55,243 cases, 802 deaths) and Spain (47,610 cases and 3,424 deaths).

A total of 658 confirmed cases have been registered in Russia so far, with no deaths. 29 people have already recovered and have been discharged from hospitals.