The total number of COVID-19 infections in Africa has surpassed the 8.66 million mark amid the emergence of the new Omicron variant.

According to data published by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) on Friday, the continent had recorded a total of 8,663,202 confirmed cases, with 223,470 fatalities.

South Africa, which has detected the Omicron variant in seven of its nine provinces, remains to be the hardest-hit country by the pandemic on the continent.

So far, South Africa has registered 2,988,148 COVID-19 infections with 89,915 deaths.

The figures account for 34.61 per cent of Africa's cases and 40.24 per cent of its fatalities.

All other African countries have reported less than half the tallies recorded by South Africa.

Morocco's 950,223 infections and Tunisia's 717,908 infections are the second and third-highest respectively, and the only tallies beyond half a million.