Taipei: Taiwan's Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced on Tuesday that the ongoing COVID-19 wave in the nation is expected to reach its peak in early August, marking an earlier-than-anticipated culmination of cases.
According to Focus Taiwan, CDC Director-General Lo Yi-chun mentioned during a regular press briefing that the agency had initially predicted the peak of the current COVID-19 wave would occur in mid to late August. However, new trends in infection rates and vaccination uptake have led to a revised forecast, with the peak anticipated in early August.
Lo indicated that weekly outpatient and emergency room visits are projected to hit a high of 51,000 in early August before starting to decline in September. CDC data revealed that from July 19-25, Taiwan recorded 10,605 outpatient and emergency room visits related to COVID-19, reflecting a 117.4 percent increase from the preceding week. Furthermore, from July 21-27, the country reported 42 new severe domestic cases and two deaths.
CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin reported that since October last year, Taiwan has documented 203 domestic COVID-19 cases with severe complications, including 25 fatalities. She noted that the majority of severe cases involved individuals aged 65 or older and those with chronic illnesses. Additionally, a significant portion of severe cases, 90.6 percent, had not received this season's COVID-19 vaccine.
Lee highlighted that the NB.1.8.1 variant has been predominant among domestic COVID-19 cases over the past month. Patients have mainly experienced upper respiratory symptoms such as 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. Although eligible for vaccination, the infant had not received a COVID-19 vaccine. She has since become fever-free and regained consciousness but remains under observation in the intensive care unit.
Lo stated that Taiwan has ample supplies of COVID-19 vaccines, with 437,000 doses available, including approximately 435,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine and 2,000 doses of the Novavax vaccine. He urged those who have not yet received this season's COVID-19 vaccine to do so.
High-risk groups are encouraged to receive a second dose if at least six months have passed since their first dose, to enhance protection against severe illness and death from COVID-19. The CDC assured that domestic medical supply capacity has been reviewed, and publicly funded antiviral drug supplies remain sufficient, including 168,000 courses of Paxlovid, 17,000 courses of Xocova, and 153,000 doses of injectable remdesivir.