London, December 9, 2021 (Photo: Xinhua/VNA)

The US leads the world in the number of infections (51.1 million) and fatalities (821,000).

607,000 cases were confirmed in the last 24 hours, 59% of them in Europe.

The World Health Organization warned on Tuesday that the Omicron variant is spreading at an "unprecedented rate". WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the strain has been reported in 77 countries and urged countries to act swiftly to rein in transmission and protect their health systems.