A steady surge of COVID-19 activity on many continents pushed the global pandemic total past 850,000 infections today and sent the number of deaths over 41,000.In research developments, a team from the United Kingdom published a new case-fatality rate estimate of 1.4%, based on all available data on deaths in and outside of China, and another group found that illness rates in South Korea trended younger and more female compared with patterns seen in China's outbreak.The latest global total stands at 850,583 cases from 180 countries, with 41,654 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins online dashboard.French cases, deaths surgeIn Europe today, France reported 7,578 new cases, sharply higher than the 4,375 new cases it reported yesterday,