US coronavirus death toll overtakes Italy's

The coronavirus related death toll in the US has surged past 20,000, surpassing Italy's tally.

According to a New York Times report, as of Saturday afternoon, the death toll stood at 20,110 with 2,057 deaths being reported on Friday.

More than 5 lakh people in the country have tested positive for the virus which has infected over 1.5 million people worldwide since it originated in China's Wuhan last year.

Meanwhile, in France, the number of coronavirus related deaths has topped 13,800 on Saturday.

"A total of 13,832 people have died in hospitals, medical and social institutions since March 1," Jerome Salomon, the head of the state health agency in France, was quoted as saying by Sputnik.

He added that 8,943 people have died in hospitals alone, including 353 patients who died in the past 24 hours. While nearly 5,000 have died in nursing homes.