Taiwan may enter new COVID-19 epidemic phase this week: CDC

Taipei, July 14 (CNA) Taiwan could enter a new COVID-19 epidemic phase as early as this week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said Tuesday, after 2,811 people sought treatment for the disease last week, up 34.4 percent from the previous week.

At a regular news conference, CDC spokesperson Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) said COVID-19 activity has been rising in Taiwan for five consecutive weeks.

Neighboring countries and regions, including China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan and Singapore, have also reported increasing case numbers, according to Tseng.

Based on its analysis, the CDC expects the number of COVID-19-related medical visits to continue rising. Once weekly visits exceed 5,000, Taiwan will officially enter a new epidemic phase, with infections expected to peak in one month to 45 days after that, Tseng said.

She said the upcoming peak is unlikely to surpass last year's, with weekly COVID-19-related medical visits projected to reach around 50,000 at most. The figure could be lower because schools are closed for the summer vacation, reducing opportunities for transmission.

Tseng said the projection is also based on experience with the disease in previous years, which has shown that infections gradually declined as more people either received COVID-19 vaccines or acquired immunity through prior infections.

Since October 2025, Taiwan has recorded 136 domestic cases of severe COVID-19 complications, including 18 deaths, according to CDC data.

Among the severe cases, 72.1 percent involved people aged 65 or older, 83.8 percent had underlying chronic illnesses, and 94.9 percent had not received this season's COVID-19 vaccine.

The CDC urged people at higher risk of severe illness to get vaccinated if they have not yet done so, or to receive a second dose if at least six months have passed since their previous shot.

About 456,000 vaccine doses remain available, and eligibility for publicly funded COVID-19 vaccination has been expanded to everyone aged 6 months and older through July 31, the agency said.