There are now more than half a million cases of the novel coronavirus, with the tally climbing to 511,000 on Thursday, March 26, according to Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking figures from the World Health Organization and additional sources.

Since the beginning of the outbreak, over 23,000 people have died, while more than 120,000 have recovered.

Europe is currently the epicenter of the global pandemic that first started in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Tens of thousands of cases are recorded worldwide each day, and thousands are dying from the disease.

Johns Hopkins experts in global public health, infectious disease, and emergency preparedness have been at the forefront of the international response to COVID-19.