Dhaka, Dec. 3 -- The overall number of Covid cases has surged past 264 million amid the global scare over the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 264,130,163 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,233,846 Friday morning.

Omicron raised alarm because of its sheer number of mutations, more than prior variants had. Possibly 30 are in a key place, the spike protein that lets the virus attach to human cells, reports AP.

The US has recorded 48,832,302 cases to date and more than 785,907 people have died so far from the virus in the country, as per the university data.

The US recorded its first confirmed case of the Omicron variant Wednesday - in a vaccin...