Global Covid Cases Near 295 Million As Omicron Spreads

The overall number of global coronavirus cases is fast approaching 295 million, with the new Covid strain Omicron showing a spike in the number of hospitalisations, reports media.

According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 294,997,968 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,456,314 Wednesday morning.

The US has recorded 57,048,792 cases so far and more than 830,067 people have died from the virus in the country, the university data shows.

As the super-contagious Omicron variant rages across the US, new Covid-19 cases per day have more than tripled over the past two weeks, reaching a record-shattering average of 480,000. Schools, hospitals and airlines are struggling as infected workers go into isolation, reports AP.

Meanwhile, hospital admissions averaged 14,800 per day last week, up 63% from the week before, but still short of the peak of 16,500 per day a year ago, when the vast majority of the US was unvaccinated. Deaths have been stable over the past two weeks at an average of about 1,200 per day, well below the all-time high of 3,400 last January.

Omicron accounted for 95% of new coronavirus infections in the US last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday, in another indication of how astonishingly fast the variant has spread since it was first detected in South Africa in late November.

Brazil, which has been experiencing a new wave of cases since last January, registered 22,328,252 cases as of Tuesday, while its Covid death toll rose to 619,654.

India's Covid-19 tally rose to 34,960,261 on Tuesday, with 37,379 new confirmed cases registered in 24 hours in the country, as per the federal health ministry data.

The ministry also reported 124 more deaths due to the pandemic, taking the total coronavirus toll to 482,017.