Shawdesh Desk:

The overall number of global coronavirus cases has surged past 282 million, with the new Covid strain Omicron showing a spike in hospitalisation.

According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 282,776,134 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,413,846 Wednesday morning.

The US has recorded 53,170,421 cases so far and more than 820,708 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 22,259,270 cases as of Wednesday, while its Covid death toll rose to 618,978.

India’s Covid-19 tally rose to 34,799,691 on Tuesday, as 6,358 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, as per the health ministry data.

Besides, as many as 293 deaths due to the pandemic were reported since Monday morning took the total death toll to 480,290.

Meanwhile, the country’s Omicron tally has reached 653 and at least 186 have recovered, the health ministry said.