COVID-19 wave in Taiwan expected to peak in early August: CDC

Taipei, July 28 (CNA) Taiwan's Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said Tuesday that the current COVID-19 wave in the country is expected to peak in early August, earlier than previously forecast.

At a regular press briefing, CDC Director-General Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞) said the agency previously expected the current COVID-19 wave to peak in mid to late August. However, based on the latest trends in infections and vaccination uptake, the peak is now expected to arrive earlier.

Lo said weekly outpatient and emergency room visits are projected to reach a high of 51,000 in early August before declining in September.

According to CDC monitoring data, Taiwan recorded 10,605 outpatient and emergency room visits related to COVID-19 from July 19-25, up 117.4 percent from the previous week. During the period from July 21-27, the country also reported 42 new severe domestic cases and two deaths.

CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said that since October last year, Taiwan has recorded 203 domestic COVID-19 cases involving severe complications, including 25 deaths.

She said most severe cases involved people aged 65 or older, who accounted for 73.4 percent, and those with a history of chronic illnesses, who accounted for 83.7 percent. In addition, 90.6 percent of severe cases had not received this season's COVID-19 vaccine.

Lee said the NB.1.8.1 variant has been the dominant strain among domestic COVID-19 cases over the past four weeks. She added that patients have mostly experienced upper respiratory symptoms, including sore throats, coughing, nasal congestion, runny noses, fever, fatigue, headaches and muscle aches.

During the briefing, the CDC reported that the youngest COVID-19 patient to develop severe complications this year is a 7-month-old girl. The infant was eligible for vaccination but had not received a COVID-19 vaccine.

The girl has since become fever-free and regained consciousness, but remains under observation and is receiving treatment in the intensive care unit, it added.

Lo said Taiwan has sufficient supplies of COVID-19 vaccines, with 437,000 doses currently available, including about 435,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine and 2,000 doses of the Novavax vaccine. He urged people who have not yet received this season's COVID-19 vaccine to get vaccinated.

Lo also urged high-risk groups, including people aged 65 or older, Indigenous people aged 55 or older, and those with weakened immune systems, to get a second dose if at least six months (180 days) have passed since their first dose. He said the additional dose will help boost protection against severe illness and death from COVID-19.

The CDC said it has reviewed domestic medical supply capacity amid the recent rise in COVID-19 cases, adding that supplies of publicly funded antiviral drugs remain sufficient, including 168,000 courses of Paxlovid, 17,000 courses of Xocova and 153,000 doses of injectable remdesivir.