Global Covid cases top 262 million

The overall number of Covid cases has surpassed 262 million amid concern about the emergence of a new variant, Omicron, in some countries.

According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 262,093,495 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,206,982 Tuesday morning.

The US has recorded 48,438,063 cases to date and more than 778,701 people have died so far from the virus in the country, as per the university data.

Brazil, which has been experiencing a new wave of cases since January, has registered 22,084,749 cases so far, while its Covid death toll rose to 614,428.

India's Covid-19 tally rose to 34,583,597 on Sunday, as 8,309 new cases were registered in 24 hours across the country, as per the federal health ministry data.

Besides, as many as 236 deaths due to the pandemic since Saturday morning took the total death toll to 468,790.

Russia registered 33,860 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 9,604,233, the official monitoring and response center said Monday.

The nationwide death toll grew by 272,755, to 273,964 while the number of recoveries increased by 8,268,111 to 8,295,811.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Sunday that it's not yet clear whether Omicron easily spreads from person to person compared to other variants, even though the number of people testing positive has risen in South Africa where this variant was involved.

It's also not yet clear whether Omicron causes more severe disease, but preliminary data suggests that there are increasing rates of hospitalization in South Africa, which however may be due to increasing overall numbers of people becoming infected, reports Xinhua.

WHO classified on Friday the latest variant B.1.1.529 of SARS-CoV-2 virus, now with the name Omicron, as a ‘Variant of Concern’ (VOC).