Global coronavirus deaths top 50,000 - Johns Hopkins tally

FILE PHOTO: Military personnel load into the truck coffins that have been piling up in a church due to the high number of deaths as Italy struggles to contain a spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Seriate, Italy, March 25, 2020. REUTERS/Flavio Lo Scalzo/File Photo

(Reuters) - Global coronavirus deaths topped 50,200 on Thursday as the pandemic ravages the United States and Europe, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Reported cases of the COVID-19 respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus were approaching 1 million with the most cases in the United States, followed by Italy and Spain.