Taipei: 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.

According to Focus Taiwan, from May 4 to 10, a total of 9,978 outpatient and emergency visits due to COVID-19 were reported across Taiwan, marking a 66 percent increase from the previous week. This represents the fifth consecutive weekly rise in cases, as stated by the CDC.

The weekly case count remains lower than the 23,324 visits recorded during the same period last year, as noted by Lee Chia-lin, deputy director of the CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Center, at a regular news briefing.

Additionally, six deaths and 34 new severe cases caused by COVID-19 were reported across Taiwan from May 6 to 11. Among the new severe cases was an 11-month-old boy from southern Taiwan. Initially diagnosed with asthma-like symptoms, he was later found to have low blood oxygen levels at an emergency room, according to CDC physician Lin Yung-ching.

The young boy was admitted to the ICU of an undisclosed hospital for treatment. A PCR test confirmed he was positive for COVID-19, leading to a diagnosis of a severe case. After treatment, his condition improved, and he was discharged after about a week in the hospital.

At Tuesday's briefing, CDC Deputy Director-General and spokesperson Lo Yi-chun highlighted that COVID-19 cases have been rising for five consecutive weeks, reaching approximately 40 percent of the cases seen during the same period last year. He predicted the peak of this year's outbreak is likely to occur in June, as infections began increasing slightly earlier than last year. Last year's peak occurred in early July, with a single week seeing 134,000 clinic visits.