London, October 21, 2020, SPA -- More than 40.62 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 1,120,183 have died, according to a Reuters tally. India has recorded 54,044 new coronavirus infections, taking its tally to 7.65 million, health ministry data showed on Wednesday. The world's second most populous nation also has the second highest caseload, after the United States, which has a total of 8.2 million. India's death toll from the virus stood at 115,914, with 717 deaths in the last 24 hours, the ministry said. Infections in India have been on the decline since a September peak, but experts have warned there could be a surge as the festival season approaches. The Czech Republic reported 11,984 new cases of coronavirus for Oct. 20, the highest daily tally on record, as the country is struggling with a surge in recent weeks. The number of people who died of the COVID-19 disease rose to 1,619 from 1,513 over the past 24 hours in the country of 10.7 million, Health Ministry data showed on Wednesday. Russia recorded 15,700 new coronavirus infections on Wednesday, as well as a daily record high of 317 deaths from the highly-contagious virus. Since the start of the pandemic, the country of about 145 million people has recorded 1,447,335 infections and 24,952 deaths, the authorities said. Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019. --SPA 11:03 LOCAL TIME 08:03 GMT 0003 www.spa.gov.sa/w1433137