It's been almost a year since the new type of coronavirus was identified by health authorities in China.

In late December last year, it was discovered that novel coronavirus caused severe pneumonia-like illness in Wuhan City as many people lost their lives due to respiratory disorders. Soon it was observed that the new strain of coronavirus was spreading all over the world as the World Health Organization declared it a global emergency in January.

Most countries underestimated the viral disease, dubbed COVID-19, as they ignored the seriousness of the matter at the beginning of the pandemic. This led to a rapid rise in the number of coronavirus cases in several countries. The global coronavirus tally currently stands at 73 million.

As of today, 15 countries have reported over 1 million coronavirus cases. These countries and their confirmed COVID-19 cases are given below:

1) USA --- 16,942,980  2) India --- 9,906,507 3) Brazil --- 6,929,4094) Russia --- 2,681,2565) France --- 2,379,9156) UK --- 1,869,6667) Turkey --- 1,866,3458) Italy --- 1,855,732 9) Spain --- 1,762,036  10) Argentina --- 1,503,222 11) Colombia --- 1,434,516 12) Germany --- 1,357,14113) Mexico --- 1,250,04414) Poland --- 1,140,539 15) Iran --- 1,115,770 

United States, India, and Brazil have been hit hardest by the flu bug among all the nations. This trio account for almost half of the total cases reported globally.

Other countries like Peru, Ukraine, and South Africa are also inching towards the grim milestone of 1 million infections.