Global coronavirus cases surpassed 11 million on Friday, according to a Reuters tally, underlining another milestone in the spread of the coronavirus disease that has killed more than half a million people under seven months.

The quantity of cases is more than double the figure for severe influenza illnesses reported annually, according to the World Health Organization.

Many hard-hit countries are reducing lockdown restrictions, put in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus while making substantial alterations to work and social life that could remain for a year or more until a vaccine is accessible.

Some countries are experiencing a revival in infections, leading authorities had to partialy put back lockdowns, in what experts say could be a frequent pattern into 2021.

The United States recorded more than 55,400 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, a new daily global record was made as infections due to the disease rose in a majority of states. Several U.S. governors stopped plans to reopen their state economies in the face of a rise in cases.

More than a quarter of the known global deaths have happened in the United States - nearly 129,000.

Latin America, where Brazil has 1.5 million cases, composes of 23 percent of the global tally of people infected. India has become the new core in Asia, rising to 625,000 cases.

Asia and the Middle East have registered around 12 percent and 9 percent respectively, as per the Reuters tally, which uses government reports.

In some countries with restricted testing capacities, case numbers indicate a small percentage of total infections.

Internationally, there have been more than 520,000 fatalities related to the disease so far, approximately the same as the number of influenza deaths reported yearly.

The initial cases of the new coronavirus were confirmed in Wuhan, China, before illnesses and fatalities rose in Europe, then the United States, and later Russia.

The pandemic has now reached a new phase, with India and Brazil fighting outbreaks of over 10,000 cases a day, putting a crucial strain on resources.