AKIPRESS.COM - Half a million people worldwide have now been infected by the coronavirus, Sky News reports. 

The figure was reached as the US passed Italy and China to record the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases at more than 82,000.

Italy has reported 80,589 confirmed cases, according to Johns Hopkins University, while China has recorded more than 81,000.

Italy is now fewer than 1,200 cases behind China - where COVID-19 first emerged in December.

China has seen a huge slowdown in new cases as the disease widens its spread across Europe and the US.

There are now 56,347 confirmed cases in Spain and 43,646 in Germany, part of the top five countries globally.

The Italian Civil Protection Agency announced the country's latest infection numbers on Thursday - the biggest daily increase in the number of cases since 21 March.