Global coronavirus cases are expected to pass 30 million on Thursday, according to a Reuters tally, with the pandemic showing no signs of slowing.

According to the census, India was firmly in focus as the latest epicentre, although North and South America combined accounted for almost half of the global cases.

The official number of global coronavirus cases is now more than five times the number of severe influenza illnesses recorded annually, Reuters quoted the World Health Organisation data as showing.

Around the world, there have been almost 1 million deaths, considered a lagging indicator given the two-week incubation period of the virus. That has well exceeded the upper range of 290,000 to 650,000 annual deaths linked to influenza.

Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.