COVID-19 cases rise for 3rd straight week in Taiwan: CDC

Taipei, June 9 (CNA) COVID-19 activity in Taiwan has continued to trend upward over the past three weeks, with outpatient and emergency room visits reaching 1,000 last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said Tuesday.

The visits, recorded during the week of May 31 to June 6, were up 4.1 percent from the previous week, CDC officials said at a weekly briefing.

The agency also reported five new domestic cases of severe COVID-19 complications during the week of June 2-8. No COVID-19-related deaths were recorded in the same period.

According to the CDC, 80 percent of the cases involved people aged 65 or older, while 80 percent had underlying health conditions. None had received this season's COVID-19 vaccine.

CDC spokesperson Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) said the latest figures marked the third consecutive weekly increase since the current wave reached a low point.

Although weekly growth has remained modest at around 3-4 percent, the upward trend warrants continued monitoring, she said.

CDC officials said they would continue assessing both domestic and international data to determine whether COVID-19 activity could enter a new epidemic phase, adding that globally, COVID-19 positivity rates have also risen slightly from recent lows.

According to the CDC, the dominant circulating variants are currently BA.3.2 and XFG, followed by NB.1.8.1.

To prepare for a possible increase in infections during the summer, the CDC has extended expanded vaccination eligibility measures from April 30 to July 31.

The agency urged people aged 6 months and older who have not yet received this season's free COVID-19 vaccine to get vaccinated as soon as possible.