Amid the global scare over new Covid-19 strain Omicron, the overall number of coronavirus cases has crossed 279 million.

According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 279,454,919 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,396,454 on Sunday morning.

The US has recorded 52,092,894 cases so far and more than 816,463 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 22,238,369 cases as of Saturday and its Covid death toll rose to 618,686.

The cases of Omicron in India has increased to 437 till Saturday.

India’s Covid-19 tally rose to 34,779,851 on Saturday, as 7,189 new cases were registered in 24 hours across the country, as per the federal health ministry data.

Besides, 387 deaths from the virus took the total death toll to 479,520.