Last week, the number of new COVID-19 cases around the world fell by 12% in comparison with previous week, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday.
In its weekly bulletin, the organization added that during the week of May 2-8 the number of deaths from the virus decreased by 25% in the world compared to the previous week.
More than 3.5 million new cases were reported last week, along with more than 12,000 deaths. The WHO noted that the number of new COVID-19 cases and deaths has been declining since the end of March.
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 five countries that reported the most cases were the United States (451,414), Australia (431,410), Germany (427,044), Italy (304,573), and South Korea (268,749).
Omicron remains the dominant COVID-19 strain around the world, according to the WHO.