Weekly COVID cases rise to nearly 10,000, could peak in June: CDC

Taipei, May 13 (CNA) COVID-19 continues to surge around Taiwan, with nearly 10,000 individuals seeking medical treatment last week, and the outbreak is likely to peak in June, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said Tuesday.

From May 4 to 10, a total of 9,978 outpatient and emergency visits due to COVID-19 were reported across Taiwan, up 66 percent from a week earlier, and the fifth consecutive weekly rise in cases, the CDC said.

The weekly case count was still lower, however, than the 23,324 visits recorded during the same period last year, said Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳), deputy director of the CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Center, at a regular news briefing.

Also, six deaths and 34 new severe cases caused by COVID-19 were reported across Taiwan from May 6 to 11, Lee said.

Among the new severe cases was an 11-month-old boy from southern Taiwan who was diagnosed with asthma-like symptoms at a clinic earlier this month and then was found at an emergency room to have low blood oxygen levels, according to CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青).

The young boy was admitted to the ICU of the undisclosed hospital for treatment due to the low oxygen levels. A PCR test later confirmed that he was positive for COVID-19, and he was diagnosed with a severe case of COVID-19.

After being treated, however, the boy improved, and he was discharged after about a week in the hospital, Lin said.

At Tuesday's briefing, CDC Deputy Director-General and spokesperson Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞) said COVID-19 cases have been on the rise for five consecutive weeks, reaching approximately 40 percent of the number of cases seen during the same period last year.

He said the peak case count of this year's COVID-19 outbreak is likely to occur in June, given that the rise of COVID-19 infections began slightly earlier than last year.

Last year's peak occurred in early July when the number of clinic visits in a single week reach 134,000, according to Lo.