The countries with the highest numbers of deaths are the US, Brazil, India, Mexico and the United Kingdom, in that order, with around 190,000, 127,000, 73,000, 68,000 and 41,000 fatalities, respectively.
Countries with the highest case numbers include the US, India, Brazil, Russia and Peru. More than 18 million people across the world have recovered from the virus.
The COVID-19 pandemic is caused by SARS-CoV-2, which was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. The World Health Organization designated the outbreak a pandemic on March 11.
Countries across the world are racing to develop a vaccine to curtail the pandemic, with Russia becoming the first country to approve such a drug for distribution in August. However, some scientists and health experts have cast doubt on the safety and effectiveness of the Russian vaccine - dubbed Sputnik V - which has yet to undergo Phase 3 trials.
