Global cases near 421m as 10.5b shots given

The overall number of Covid cases is fast approaching 421 million as Omicron infections keep rising across the globe, report agencies.

According to Worldometers tally, the total case count mounted to 420,804,374 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,883,969 Friday evening.

More than 10.5 billion doses have been administered across 184 countries, according to data collected by Bloomberg. The latest rate was roughly 27.3 million doses a day.

The US has recorded 78,274, 553 cases so far and 931,505 people have died from the virus in the country, the university data shows.

India's Covid-19 tally rose to 42,779,022 on Thursday with 24,707 new cases in 24 hours across the country, as per the federal health ministry's latest data.

Besides, 496 more deaths were reported from the pandemic since Wednesday morning, taking the total death toll to 510,937.

Meanwhile, Brazil, which has been experiencing a new wave of cases since January last year, registered 27,941,476 cases as of Thursday, while its Covid death toll rose to 641,997.

Meanwhile, report from Hong Kong adds: Hong Kong's foreign domestic workers are being "abandoned" in the current coronavirus wave sweeping the city, with some forced to sleep rough or being denied treatment after testing positive, charities said Friday.

The warning came as Hong Kong's leader Carrie Lam told residents to encourage helpers to stay indoors and said police would step up social distancing fines.

The Chinese financial hub is currently in the throes of its worst-ever coronavirus outbreak, registering thousands of confirmed cases a day as hospitals reach breaking point.

Hong Kongers live in one of the world's most densely packed cities and rely on some 370,000 foreign domestic workers, the vast majority women from the Philippines and Indonesia who cook, clean, and care for their families.

Foreign domestic workers must live with their employers, cannot swap jobs easily, and are only entitled to one day off a week.

On Friday a coalition of groups representing migrant workers said the already grim pandemic conditions have plunged further in the current outbreak.

Some workers had been sacked by employers after testing positive, forcing them to sleep outdoors. Others found themselves denied treatment at hospitals because they had lost their jobs.

Eni Lestari, an Indonesian domestic worker and activist, said her peers had been on the "frontlines" helping families throughout the pandemic.