People line up outside a COVID-19 testing site in the Brooklyn borough of New York on Jan 2, 2021. (KENA BETANCUR / AFP)

MOSCOW / ALGIERS / BUENOS AIRES / SAO PAULO / SANTIAGO / UITO / RABAT / LONDON / HARARE / NEW YORK / BOGOTA - US COVID-19 deaths surpassed 350,000 on Saturday evening, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

With the national case count topping 20.4 million, the death toll across the United States rose to 350,186 as of 11:22 pm local time (0422 GMT Sunday), according to the CSSE data.

New York State reported 38,273 fatalities, at the top of the US state-level death toll list. Texas recorded the second most deaths of 28,338, followed by California with 26,542 deaths and Florida with 21,890 deaths, the CSSE tally showed.

States with more than 10,000 fatalities also include New Jersey, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Massachusetts and Georgia.

The United States remains the nation worst hit by the pandemic, with the world's highest caseload and death toll, accounting for more than 24 percent of the global cases and over 19 percent of the global deaths.

Larry King, a talk show host and former CNN interviewer, was diagnosed with COVID-19, according to CNN.

Saturday's report cited sources close to the family, saying the 87-year-old King had been undergoing intensive treatment for over a week at the Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Reportedly, strict COVID-19 protocols at Cedars-Sinai had prevented King's three sons from visiting him. But they are in constant contact with the hospital and doctors.

Besides Type 2 diabetes, King has also faced some other medical issues over the years, such as heart attacks, angina and lung cancer.

ALSO READ: US COVID-19 cases surpass 20 million

Algeria

The number of total infections from the COVID-19 in Algeria on Saturday exceeded 100,000.

As many as 262 new cases were registered during the last 24 hours, bringing the total COVID-19 cases to 100,159, spokesman of the scientific committee for monitoring the progress of coronavirus pandemic Djamel Fourar told reporters.

He indicated that seven new fatalities were also reported, bringing the death toll to 2,769, and 216 patients were recovered, bringing the total recoveries to 67,611 cases.

Argentina

Argentina registered 5,240 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, taking the national count to 1,634,834, the health ministry said.

The ministry also reported 56 more deaths from the disease, bringing the nationwide death toll to 43,375.

There are 144,367 active cases in the country and 3,438 people are currently hospitalized in intensive care units, it said.

The Argentine government has extended mandatory social distancing measures until Jan 31.

Relatives pray during the funeral of COVID-19 victim Maria Estela Maris Melo, at the Nossa Senhora Aparecida cemetery in Manaus, Amazonas state, Brazil, on Dec 30, 2020. (MICHAEL DANTAS / AFP)

Brazil

Brazil has registered 314 more deaths from COVID-19, bringing the death toll to 195,725, the Ministry of Health reported on Saturday.

The ministry also said that 15,827 new cases had been reported, bringing the number of accumulated cases to 7,716,405.

The state of Sao Paulo, the most populous in the country, has registered 46,808 deaths and 1,467,953 cases in total, followed by Rio de Janeiro, with 25,608 deaths and 435,604 cases.

Chile

Chile reported 3,338 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing total infections to 615,902, the Ministry of Health said on Saturday.

In the last three days, more than 3,000 daily cases of COVID-19 were reported in the country, the highest figures since July.

The country also registered 64 more deaths from the disease, bringing the death toll to 16,724, while 581,961 people have recovered from the disease so far, the ministry said in a daily report.

Colombia

Colombia registered 11,528 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 1,666,408, the country's health authorities said Saturday.

Meanwhile, the country reported 270 more deaths, raising the national death toll to 43,765, said the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, adding that 1,530,973 patients have so far recovered.

Ecuador

Ecuador's Ministry of Public Health on Saturday reported 1,135 new COVID-19 cases over the last 24 hours, bringing the national tally to 214,513.

The country's death toll rose to 9,495 with eight more deaths, while another 4,564 deaths were also likely caused by the virus, according to the ministry.

The capital city of Quito, the current epicenter of COVID-19 in Ecuador, has reported 69,931 cases.

Morocco

Morocco announced on Saturday 1,171 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally in the North African country since March 2 to 442,141.

The number of recoveries from the coronavirus in Morocco increased to 412,168 after 2,530 more were added, while the death toll rose by 27 to 7,452, the ministry of health said in a statement.

People, some of them wearing a protective face mask walk in central Moscow on Jan 2, 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus. (NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA / AFP)

Russia

Russia recorded 24,150 more COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, down from 26,301 a day earlier, the country's COVID-19 response center said Sunday.

The national tally of COVID-19 cases has increased to 3,236,787, including 58,506 deaths and 2,618,882 recoveries, the center said.

More than 800,000 people in Russia have been inoculated so far against the new coronavirus and more than 1.5 million vaccine doses have been dispatched, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said on Saturday.

Russia, which began rolling out its Sputnik V vaccine in early December, has the world’s fourth higher number of COVID-19 cases and is putting high hopes on several vaccines it plans to produce.

From Jan 1, people who are inoculated in Russia will get an electronic vaccination certificate, the TASS news agency quoted Murashko as saying. The ministry is keeping a database of Russians who have been vaccinated, TASS reported.

The Sputnik V vaccine, which Russia already started supplying to other countries, is administered in two doses, which use different components, 21 days apart.

Russia sent 300,000 doses of the vaccine to Argentina last week, causing frustration at home, with some people arguing that more shots should be made available at home.

People walk along a near-deserted Brick Lane in London on Jan 2, 2021. (NIKLAS HALLE'N / AFP)

UK

Another 57,725 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, marking the highest daily increase in coronavirus cases since the pandemic began in the country, according to official figures released Saturday.

The total number of coronavirus cases in the country now stands at 2,599,789, the data showed.

Another 445 have died within 28 days of a positive test, bringing the total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain to 74,570, the data showed.

The latest figures were revealed as British medical experts warned that tougher days are still ahead due to the spread of the new virus strain, which is said to be 70 percent more transmissible.

Zimbabwe

The Zimbabwean government on Saturday reimposed a curfew and banned all gatherings, except for funerals, for 30 days as the country battles to contain a surge in COVID-19 infections.

As was the case during the initial lockdown restrictions in March 2020, only essential services such as hospitals, pharmacies and supermarkets will remain open.

However, these services will now operate between 8 am and 3 pm.

READ MORE: WHO approves Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine

The country has of late witnessed a high number of local infections amid fears that the second wave of the pandemic will be more deadly than the first.

As of Saturday, Zimbabwe recorded 14,491 cases and 377 deaths with about 1,400 infections reported this week.

The gatherings that have been banned include weddings and churches services, while bottle stores, gyms, and restaurants will once again be closed.

The maximum number of people who can attend funerals has been reduced to 30 from 100.