The Latest: US leads world with 16 million cases of virus Pandemic landmark: Vaccine approved in US By Associated Press | December 12, 2020 at 8:01 PM CST - Updated December 23 at 2:13 PM BALTIMORE (AP) - The U.S. has recorded more than 16 million cases of COVID-19, by far the most of any country in the world, according to data kept by Johns Hopkins University. Cases of the virus have been rising across much of the U.S., causing record death totals in recent days. India and Brazil are the only two other countries that have reported more than 3 million cases of COVID-19. Globally, more than 71 million cases have been confirmed. The actual number of cases is believed to be far higher because many people haven’t been tested and some who get the disease don’t show symptoms.