Coronavirus test
Coronavirus testiStock

More than 300,000 people around the world have now died globally from the coronavirus, according to updated figures released by Johns Hopkins University and quoted by CNN on Thursday.

More than 4.4 million cases have also been recorded, according to the university's count. Given the varied ways in which different countries report COVID-19 figures and the vast societal impact of the pandemic, the true number of infections and fatalities could be far higher.

More than a quarter of the global deaths -- more than 84,000 -- have occurred in the United States, where fatalities soared throughout April and continue to climb at a rate of around 1,500 a day.

A number of Latin American countries have also reported rapid spikes in infections and deaths in recent days.

Brazil is seeing cases skyrocket and has recorded more than 13,000 deaths. Mexico has meanwhile suffered more than 4,000 fatalities, with significant outbreaks also seen in Ecuador and Peru.

On Wednesday, the World Health Organization warned that the new coronavirus may never go away and populations around the world will have to learn to live with it.

"We have a new virus entering the human population for the first time and therefore it is very hard to predict when we will prevail over it," said Michael Ryan, the WHO's emergencies director.

"This virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities and this virus may never go away," he added.