Ovidiu Dugulan/iStockBy MORGAN WINSOR, ABC News

(NEW YORK) — A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 781,000 people worldwide.

Over 22 million people across the globe have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages, many unreported cases and suspicions that some national governments are hiding or downplaying the scope of their outbreaks.

Since the first cases were detected in China in December, the United States has become the worst-affected country, with more than 5.4 million diagnosed cases and at least 171,823 deaths.

Here’s how the news is developing Wednesday. All times Eastern:

9:19 a.m.: Iran’s coronavirus death toll tops 20,000

There were 168 additional coronavirus-related fatalities in Iran on Wednesday, bringing the country’s death toll past 20,000, according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University.

It’s another grim milestone for the nation of 80 million people, which has the largest COVID-19 outbreak in the Middle East with more than 350,000 diagnosed cases.

Nevertheless, Iran still plans to hold university entrance exams for over one million students. The Islamic Republic is also preparing for mass commemorations at the end of the month for the ninth and tenth days of Muharram, which marks the start of the Islamic New Year.

7:15 a.m.: Pope warns against vaccine priority for the rich

Pope Francis said Wednesday that a COVID-19 vaccine should be “for everyone” and not made a priority for the rich.

“How sad it would be if for the COVID-19 vaccine priority is given to the richest,” Francis said during his weekly general audience at the Vatican, which was held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“It would be sad,” he added, “if the vaccine became property of such and such nation and not universal for everyone.”

The pope noted how COVID-19 “has uncovered the plight of the poor and the great inequality that reigns in the world.”

“The pandemic is a crisis. You don’t come out of it the same — either better or worse,” he said. “We must come out better.”

6:34 a.m.: India records 1,092 more deaths

India’s health ministry recorded 1,092 additional coronavirus-related deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide toll to 52,889.

The latest single-day rise in fatalities is lower than India’s record of 2,003 deaths reported on June 16.

The country of 1.3 billion people has the world’s fourth-highest death toll from COVID-19, behind the United States, Brazil and Mexico, according to a real-time tally kept by Johns Hopkins University.

More than 2.7 million people in India have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began — the third-highest count in the world.

5:39 a.m.: ‘We are not seeing a surge in community cases,’ says New Zealand PM

New Zealand reported six new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, five of which were locally transmitted and are linked to a cluster of cases in the country’s most populous city.

The national total now stands at 1,299 cases, 96 of which are active, according to data published on the health ministry’s website.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the latest figures were “encouraging.”

“At this stage, we are not seeing a surge in community cases,” Ardern said at a press conference Wednesday. “We have not seen any new cases outside of that identified Auckland cluster.”

Health officials are still investigating how the outbreak in Auckland started after the country went 102 days without any local transmission. The new cluster of cases was discovered there last week, prompting authorities to impose a two-week lockdown in the region and to reschedule national elections.

4:45 a.m.: France will require face masks in offices starting next month

France’s labor ministry announced Tuesday that face masks will be required in enclosed shared office spaces starting Sept. 1, citing an “upsurge” in COVID-19 cases.

Mask will not be mandatory in individual offices so long as only one person is present, the ministry said.

The wearing of face masks is already compulsory in public indoor spaces across France. Several cities, including Paris and Marseille, have imposed mask requirements in some outdoor areas, such as popular beaches.

There were 2,238 new cases of COVID-19 identified in France on Tuesday, according to the health ministry, which is requiring on-the-spot tests for travelers coming from over a dozen nations with active virus circulation, including the United States.

3:50 a.m.: US reports more than 1,300 new deaths in a single day

There were 44,813 new cases of COVID-19 identified in the United States on Tuesday, according to a count kept by Johns Hopkins University.

Tuesday’s tally is well below the country’s record set on July 16, when 77,255 new cases were identified in a 24-hour reporting period.

An additional 1,324 coronavirus-related deaths were also recorded Tuesday — a nearly threefold increase from the previous day but still under the record 2,666 new deaths that were reported on April 17.

A total of 5,482,602 people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and at least 171,823 of them have died, according to Johns Hopkins. The cases include people from all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C. and other U.S. territories as well as repatriated citizens.

By May 20, all U.S. states had begun lifting stay-at-home orders and other restrictions put in place to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. The day-to-day increase in the country’s cases then hovered around 20,000 for a couple of weeks before shooting back up and crossing 70,000 for the first time in mid-July.

While week-over-week comparisons show that the nationwide number of new cases has continued to decrease in recent weeks, the number of new deaths has increased, according to an internal memo from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, obtained by ABC News on Tuesday night.

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