According to the latest data from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, the global death toll from COVID-19 has reached a new grim milestone of 40,000 deaths.

An increasing death toll across both Western Europe and in the US was a major contributor to the somber milestone.

Earlier on Tuesday, Spanish authorities confirmed a jump of 849 in COVID-19 deaths – the largest number of fatalities the country has recorded in a 24-hour period since the pandemic began.

Meanwhile, authorities in Germany said the country now has at least 67,051 confirmed cases and a cumulative total of at least 650 deaths from the coronavirus.

Earlier on Tuesday, data from Johns Hopkins showed that the world had crossed the 800,000 mark of confirmed cases, despite reported successes in China, the original epicenter of the coronavirus crisis, and other countries who have apparently managed to ‘flatten the curve’ of infection.