NEW YORK, April 17 (Xinhua) -- The number of COVID-19 cases in the United States reached 700,282 as of 9:10 p.m. local time on Friday (0110 GMT on Saturday), according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

A total of 36,822 people have died of the disease in the country, according to the CSSE.

The United States currently tops the world in total cases and deaths, with the state of New York suffering the most with 230,579 cases and 17,131 fatalities.