The number of daily new Covid-19 cases worldwide has crossed one million for the first time since the pandemic began two years ago, according to an AFP tally.

The figures for December 23-29, the highest since the virus first emerged at the end of 2019, are based on tolls given daily by health authorities in each country.

More than 7.3 million new Covid-19 cases were detected around the world in the last seven days — an average of 1,045,000 infections every day — following a surge in cases of the highly contagious Omicron variant.

The numbers are much higher than the last record before the current wave when daily cases stood at 817,000 on average between April 23 and April 29.