The worldwide coronavirus pandemic has now infected more than 29 million people and the numbers are expected to pass 30 million, with 9.39 lakh people succumbing to the virus that was first reported in late December 2019.

According to Johns Hopkins University, the world has witnessed a total of 29,760,579 confirmed coronavirus cases. The death count has also surged to 939,427.

The United States has about 20% of all global cases, although it has just 4% of the world's population.

It took 18 days for global cases to surge from 25 million to more than 30 million. It took 20 days for the world to go from 20 million to 25 million and 19 days to go from 15 million to 20 million.

The race to develop and bring to market a novel coronavirus vaccine has grown increasingly frenetic in recent weeks with about 200 candidates in development globally.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said his country could have a vaccine ready for distribution before the U.S. election on Nov. 3, while a Chinese health official this week said China may have a vaccine ready for public use as early as November.

Source: Agencies