A total of 617,832 people worldwide have died of the disease.

NEW YORK, July 22  -- Global confirmed COVID-19 cases topped 15 million on Wednesday, reaching 15,000,424 as of 12:35 p.m. (1635 GMT), according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

A total of 617,832 people worldwide have died of the disease, the data showed.

People wearing face masks stand on a street in Atlanta, Georgia, the United States, July 19, 2020.(Photo by Alan Chin/Xinhua)

The United States has suffered the most from the pandemic, with 3,919,550 cases and 142,350 fatalities, the tally showed.

Countries with more than 300,000 cases also include Brazil, India, Russia, South Africa, Peru, Mexico and Chile, according to the CSSE.