Online Desk :
The overall number of coronavirus cases has surged past 271 million as scientists around the world race to learn about the Omicron variant’s transmissibility and severity.
According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 271,418,965 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,320,236 Tuesday morning.
The US has recorded 50,233,338 cases so far and more than 800,343 people have died from the virus in the country, the university data shows.
Brazil, which has been experiencing a new wave of cases since January, registered 22,195,775 cases as of Tuesday, while its Covid death toll rose to 616,970.
India has registered 5,784 new cases of Covid-19 during a 24-hour period, bringing the total caseload to 34,703,644, as per the health ministry figures released Monday.
The ministry also reported 252 more deaths during the same period, taking the total death toll to 475,888.
Eight new cases of Omicron were reported in India on Tuesday — four have been reported from the national capital region and the remaining four from the western state of Rajasthan – taking the total tally of the new Covid variant in the country to 49.
Meanwhile, the UK reported the first death of a patient infected with Omicron on Monday. Long lines formed Monday at vaccination centres across England as people heeded the government’s call for all adults to get booster shots to protect themselves against the variant.
The UK, as of Wednesday morning, logged 10,995,311 Covid-19 cases, while the fatalities mounted to 147,085.
