Live updates: U.S. COVID-19 deaths surpass 250,000

Confirmed COVID-19 cases have surpassed 56.3 million globally, with over 1.3 million fatalities and more than 36 million recoveries, according to the latest tally from Johns Hopkins University.

Here is what we know:

The Chinese mainland on Wednesday registered 12 new cases – all from overseas. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said five COVID-19 vaccines are in the final stages of testing overseas.

The total number of infections in the U.S. surpassed 11.5 million, as the country's death toll surpassed 250,000.

Japan is on "maximum alert" after logging a record number of daily infections of over 2,000 cases.

Russia's COVID-19 case tally passed the two million mark on Thursday.

Pfizer Inc. said final results from the late-stage trial of its COVID-19 vaccine show it is 95 percent effective.

And

a potential COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca Plc and Oxford University showed promise among elderly in mid-stage trials.