CORONAVIRUS/Weekly COVID-19 cases in Taiwan surge 78%, extend climb: CDC

Taipei, May 7 (CNA) Nearly 6,000 individuals sought medical treatment for COVID-19 last week, marking a 78 percent increase from the previous week and the fourth consecutive weekly rise in cases, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said Tuesday.

A total of 5,853 outpatient and emergency visits due to COVID-19 were reported across Taiwan from April 27 to May 3, the highest weekly count this year, said CDC Deputy Director-General and spokesperson Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞) at a regular news briefing in Taipei.

The figures indicated a "rapid upward trend" in infections, Lo said.

While last week's case count was only about 30 percent of the 19,334 visits recorded during the same period in 2024, Lo predicted that the number will continue to rise, with the peak of the ongoing seventh wave of Omicron infections likely to occur in May or June.

Lo believed that the peak of the current wave will reach only about one-third to half the level of the previous wave, which ended around six months ago with a peak of approximately 130,000 cases in a single week.

From April 29 to May 5, four deaths and 33 severe cases caused by COVID-19 were reported across Taiwan, said Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳), deputy director of the CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Center.

A total of 203 severe cases related to COVID-19, 37 of which resulted in deaths, have been recorded in Taiwan so far this year, Lee said.

Most the patients were individuals aged 65 or older or those with chronic illnesses, and over 91 percent of them had not received JN.1 vaccinations, she said.

Among the newly reported severe cases, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said a 4-year-old girl from central Taiwan was found with COVID-19 complicated by pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome.

The girl, who had not been vaccinated against COVID-19 and was hospitalized in early May, is currently receiving antiviral treatment in an intensive care unit, and is conscious and has stable vital signs though she continues to experience shortness of breath, Lin said.

As of Sunday, a total of 2.088 million doses of the JN.1 COVID-19 vaccine -- available since October last year -- had been administered in Taiwan, representing a nationwide coverage rate of 8.7 percent, according to the CDC.

The CDC reminded individuals who received their first dose of the JN.1 vaccine six months ago to get a second jab as soon as possible to boost protection and reduce the risk of developing severe illness or dying after infection.