The number of global infections with the new coronavirus (COVID-19) passed the five million mark on Wednesday.

According to the latest reports on Wednesday, a total of 5,000,630 cases of coronavirus infections have been reported around the world. More than 325,156 have died, while 1,970,979 have recovered.

The milestone comes as many countries begin to ease restrictions on populations which have been locked down for months.

Some 93,533 people in the US have died due to COVID-19 since the outbreak began, and 1,570,583 cases have been confirmed.

Russia has the second most confirmed cases passing 308,705 on Wednesday, with the fatalities reaching 2,972.

Spain with 278,803 cases and Brazil with 271,885 infections are the next in terms of most-affected countries.

The UK registered a 35,341 death toll with the country’s total coronavirus patients amounting to 248,818.

Iran reported a total of 124,603 infection cases as of Monday, with the fatality rate of 7,119.

Measures including extensive controls on populations in China mean the country now only has the 13th highest number of total recorded cases to date with just under 83,000 cases and 4,634 deaths.

Meanwhile Russia has had over 300,000 cases, Spain has had 278,800, Brazil has had 271,800 and the UK with over 248,800, make up the top five worst affected nations.

Worldometer, the tracking service, uses the latest data from health ministries around the world in real-time to provide global and national figures charting the impact of the virus.

A rise of 8,764 new coronavirus infections in Russia took the nationwide total over 300,000 on Wednesday, but the daily increase was the lowest since May 1.

-Agencies