An Italian soldier is on duty at Roma Termini railway station in Rome, Italy, on March 23, 2020. (Photo by Augusto Casasoli/Xinhua)

The total deaths linked to COVID-19 around the world topped 20,000 as of 2 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time on Wednesday (1800 GMT), according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

A total of 20,499 people have died of the pandemic among 451,355 confirmed cases around the globe, the CSSE said.

Italy topped the chart with 7,503 deaths. Other countries with over 1,000 fatalities include Spain, China, Iran and France, according to the CSSE.