Global Covid-19 cases hit 20 million

The global number of Covid-19 cases has reached 20 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Centre.

The grim milestone was reached in the early hours of Tuesday morning, UK time.

The total number of global coronavirus deaths stands at 733,103, according to experts at Johns Hopkins, the American university whose aggregated tally has become the main reference for monitoring the disease.

The number of cases in the US has just passed five million, Brazil has reached three million, with 2.2 million in India, almost 900,000 in Russia and 560,000 in South Africa.

The UK has 313,390 cases according to the university, putting it 12th on the list, just behind Spain.

The US has also suffered the most deaths at 163,331, while there have been 101,000 in Brazil, 52,000 in Mexico, 46,611 in the UK and more than 44,000 in India.