NEW YORK, March 19 (Xinhua) -- The total deaths linked to COVID-19 around the world have topped 10,000 as of 11:30 p.m. local time on Thursday (0330 GMT on Friday), according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

A total of 10,030 people have died of the pandemic among 244,517 confirmed cases around the globe, the CSSE said.

Italy topped the chart with 3,405 deaths. Other countries with over 100 fatalities include China, Iran, Spain, France, the United States and the United Kingdom, according to the CSSE.