New York, April 18 (IANS) The global confirmed COVID-19 cases topped 2.2 million on Friday afternoon, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

The fresh figure reached 2,204,511 with 149,378 deaths as of 2:30 p.m. (1830 GMT), the CSSE said, Xinhua reported.

The US suffered the most cases and deaths at the same time, which stood at 679,374 and 34,180, respectively. Spain and Italy followed with 188,068 and 172,434 cases, respectively.

Other countries with over 100,000 cases included France, Germany, and the UK.

--IANS pgh/