Today, the number of COVID-19 cases globally exceeded the 12 million mark.

The virus that originated in Wuhan, China in late December last year soon took over the whole world. Over 180 countries have reported coronavirus cases in the last six months. The countries most adversely affected currently by the new viral disease are the United States, Brazil, India, and Russia among many others.

According to the live coronavirus count provided by the website "Worldometer", novel coronavirus cases have exceeded 12 million across the world. The death count stands at almost 550,000. But one good news is that the number of people who have recovered from COVID-19 is approaching 7 million mark.

The United States alone has over 3 million coronavirus cases, accounting for almost one-quarter of the global cases. The US leads the world in covid deaths too as more than 134,000 people have died in the country. Brazil is the second most affected country with over 1.6 million viral cases and 66,000 reported covid deaths.

The viral cases have increased significantly over the past few weeks as most countries have lifted lockdown restrictions to avoid an economic crash. According to the World Health Organization, the new cases are increasing at the rate of one million per week now. With cases rising, businesses reopening everywhere, and unavailability of vaccines, it's safe to say that we still have a long way to go in eradicating this disease from the face of the earth.