GENEVA, May 12. /TASS/. Over 3.5 mln people have been infected with coronavirus over the past week, more than 12,000 have died. The number of new cases fell by 12% in comparison with last week, and the number of deaths - by 25%, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday.

In its weekly bulletin, the organization noted that the number of new COVID-19 cases and deaths has been declining since the end of March. Thus, on May 2-8, the decline was 12% and 25%, respectively, compared to the previous week with 3,546,069 cases and 12,025 deaths reported to the WHO.

The most significant decrease in the number of cases compared to the previous week (April 25 - May 1) was registered in Southeast Asia (-29%), the Eastern Mediterranean (-28%), and Europe (-26%).

The United States reported the highest number of cases over the week with 451,414 cases, followed by Australia (431,410), Germany (427,044), Italy (304,573), and South Korea (268,749). The United States reported the most deaths in seven days - 2,652, followed by Russia (915), Italy (910), France (732), and Brazil (681), the statement said.

Omicron remains the dominant strain around the world, according to the WHO.