CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19, influenza outbreaks have peaked: CDC

Taipei, July 16 (CNA) COVID-19 and influenza cases in Taiwan have peaked, with the epidemic phases likely to pass by mid-August, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said Tuesday.

Emergency and outpatient department visits for both diseases saw a week-over-week decrease of more than 10 percent, CDC Deputy Director-General Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞) told a news conference.

The CDC forecasts that the epidemic phases for influenza and COVID-19 will end in early and mid-August, respectively, Lo said.

However, a renewed outbreak of COVID-19 in the autumn cannot be ruled out, Lo added.

According to CDC data, the most common COVID-19 variant detected both domestically and from abroad in the past four weeks is JN.1, accounting for 39 percent and 36 percent, respectively, with LB.1 coming second at 20 percent domestically and 9 percent abroad.

Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳), the deputy director of the CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Center, said that 898 new domestic COVID-19 cases with severe complications were recorded last week, a week-over-week drop of around 9 percent.

"But the overall number of cases remains high, exceeding our epidemic prediction threshold, which indicates that the outbreak is still ongoing," Lee said, adding that 104 new COVID-19-related death cases were reported last week, slightly higher than the previous week's 99 cases.

Regarding influenza, 11 deaths and 61 cases with severe complications were reported last week, Lee said.

Meanwhile, Taiwan recorded four new cases of pertussis, also known as whooping cough, last week, bringing the total to 12 cases reported this year, the highest number for the same period since 2020, CDC data showed.

Of the 12 cases, Tainan reported four, while Taipei, Taoyuan, and Kaohsiung each reported two, and Yilan County and Taichung one, Lee noted.

Lee said that the cases ranged in age from less than one month to over 40 years old, with five cases involving infants aged three months or younger.

The number of pertussis cases has increased globally this year, with new cases continuously reported in Europe and Asia, including China, which reported a total of 248,000 cases this year, seven times higher than the number of cases reported during the same period in the past, according to the CDC.

Lo urged parents to get children fully vaccinated, particularly if they plan to travel abroad.