The global coronavirus caseload has topped 264.89 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 5.24 million and vaccination to over 8.11 billion, according to Johns Hopkins University.
In its latest update on Saturday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and death toll stood at 264,892,562 and 5,242,384 respectively. And the total number of vaccine doses administered was 8,118,138,512.
The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 48,990,127 and 787,695, respectively according to the CSSE. The second worst hit country in terms of cases is India (34,615,757 infections and 470,115 deaths), followed by Brazil (22,129,409 infections and 615,400 deaths).
UK records more than 50K new cases
Britain registered 50,584 new Covid-19 infections bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 10,379,647, according to official figures released on Friday.
The country also reported a further 143 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 145,424, with 7,373 Covid-19 patients still in hospital.
The latest data came as the country confirmed 22 cases of the Omicron variant in England, 29 in Scotland and one case in Wales.
A meeting of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag) subgroup on Sars-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.529 concluded that, if introduced into Britain, the variant would be able to initiate a new wave of infections.
Omicron variant found in 2
Meanwhile, British officials said that more than half the confirmed cases of the new Omicron variant in Britain have occurred following at least two vaccination doses.
According to a new technical briefing from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), 12 of the 22 known cases up to November 30 had been fully vaccinated.
The UKHSA has also released a risk assessment of the Omicron variant, giving the highest "red" alert against the virus for its theoretical ability, based on its mutations, to evade both vaccine and naturally-acquired immunity. It also warns that it could reduce the effectiveness of monoclonal antibody treatments.
To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the United States have been racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccines.
Other countries
The other worst countries with over 5 million cases are the UK (10,438,381), Russia (9,565,909), Turkey (8,863,356), France (7,927,361), Iran (6,129,199), Germany (6,134,492), Argentina (5,337,692), Spain (5,202,958) and Colombia (5,076,378), the CSSE figures showed.
Nations with a death toll of over 100,000 are Mexico (294,715), Russia (273,463), Peru (201,282), the UK (145,874), Indonesia (143,858), Italy (134,077), Iran (130,066), Colombia (128,685), France (120,440) and Argentina (116,639).
