TASS, September 7. A number of the confirmed novel coronavirus cases worldwide exceeded on Monday the figure of 27 million, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University, which relies on the data of international organizations, federal and local authorities.

The US-based research university reports that as of today the global number of people infected with the novel coronavirus stands at 27,002,224, while the rate of fatalities reached 882,053.

Over 18,054,580 have been reported to recover from the disease, according Johns Hopkins University, which added that the United States is the leading country in terms of confirmed novel coronavirus cases.

The university data also shows that the currently top-three countries, following the United States in terms of the confirmed COVID-19 figures, are Brazil (4,137,521 cases) and India (4,113,811).

In late December 2019, Chinese officials informed 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.