The United States now has more coronavirus cases than any other country with close to 86,000 infections, according to Johns Hopkins University, pushing the total numbers worldwide to more than 531,000, as the global death toll surged past 24,000 as of early Friday.

There were more than 81,700 known cases in China and 80,500 in Italy.

More than 122,000 people worldwide have recovered from COVID-19, while more than 24,054 people have died, including 1,288 in the US.

Italy reported the highest death toll with more than 8,200 deaths.

In India, where the country’s 1.3 billion people were under orders to stay home, legions of poor were suddenly thrown out of work and many families were left struggling for something to eat.

Meanwhile, The United States has cancelled annual military exercises with treaty ally the Philippines, it said on Friday, as a precaution against a coronavirus pandemic.

The exercises, set to run from May 4 to May 15, have taken place in the southeast Asian nation for decades, involving thousands of troops from both countries.

The alliance with the Philippines is one of Washington’s most important in Asia.