Washington, June 27 : The overall number of global COVID-19 cases has topped 9.7 million, while the deaths were nearing 500,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University. As of Saturday morning, the total number of cases stood at 9,776,963, while the fatalities increased to 493,609, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed in its latest update. With 2,467,658 cases and 125,046 deaths, the US continues with the world's highest number of COVID-19 infections and fatalities, according to the CSSE. Brazil comes in the second place with 1,274,974 infections and 55,961 deaths. In terms of cases, Russia ranks third (619,936), and is followed by India (490,401), the UK (310,836), Peru (272,364), Chile (263,360), Spain (247,905), Italy (239,961), Iran (217,724), Mexico (208,392), France (199,473), Pakistan (195,745), Turkey (194,511), Germany (194,036), Saudi Arabia (174,577), Bangladesh (130,474), South Africa (124,590) and Canada (104,629), the CSSE figures showed. The other countries with over 10,000 deaths are the UK (43,498), Italy (34,708), France (29,781), Spain (28,338), Mexico (25,779), India (15,301) and Iran (10,239). /IANS