The daily reported number of moderate to severe cases of COVID-19 increased 33 percent last week from a week earlier, indicating a fourth wave of local Omicron infections, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.
CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said the average daily number of moderate to severe case last week was 155, up from 117 the previous week.
Prescriptions for oral anti-viral drugs to treat the disease also rose, while the average positivity rate from tests at residential care facilities increased to 1.3 percent last week, he said.
Photo: Lin Hui-chin, Taipei Times
Genomic sequencing data showed that Omicron XBB viral strains have replaced Omicron BA.2.75 to become the dominant variant of SARS-CoV-2 in Taiwan, with 54 percent of local cases last week being Omicron XBB, he said.
CDC Deputy Director-General and spokesman Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said the numbers indicate that COVID-19 cases are rising.
These Omicron infections can be considered the fourth COVID-19 wave in the nation, Lo said.
People with a high risk of serious illness after infection are advised to see a doctor and ask for an oral anti-viral drug prescription if they test positive for COVID-19, and get immediate medical attention if they develop signs of severe complications, he said.
As the Central Epidemic Command Center was disbanded two weeks ago and the WHO on May 5 ended its Public Health Emergency of International Concern for COVID-19, many countries no longer require vaccination certificates, so the digital certificates showing vaccination status, test results and isolation orders would end on May 31. Lo said.
People can apply for the certificates at https://gov.tw/8ft until midnight on May 30, he said.
Meanwhile, the flu accounted for 45.6 percent of respiratory viruses identified at contracted labs and there were 67,733 hospital visits for flu-like illnesses last week, Guo said, adding that the upward trend seems to be continuing.
Fourteen new cases of serious flu complications and two flu-related deaths were confirmed last week, with all of them unvaccinated this flu season, he said, adding that 11 of those with severe symptoms and the two who died had the influenza A (H1N1) virus, while the other three had influenza A (H3N2).
CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said the two people who died were a woman in her 70s in eastern Taiwan, who had several underlying health problems and died of pneumonia, and a five-year-old boy in northern Taiwan, who died of encephalitis.
The boy had a fever, coughing and a runny nose early this month and received medication at a clinic, but was lethargic, vomiting and had diarrhea the next day, Lin said.
He tested positive for H1N1, Lin said, adding that the child was admitted to an emergency room as his symptoms rapidly worsened, including altered consciousness and an unsteady gait.
The boy was diagnosed with encephalitis from a flu infection and given anti-viral medication, but his heart stopped the second day he was in hospital and three days after the onset of symptoms.
There were 11,916 hospital visits for enterovirus infections last week, including a five-year-old with a mild case of enterovirus 71, Gou said, adding that the upward trend of new cases is continuing.
Twelve new local cases of mpox were confirmed last week among men aged 20 to 40, Lo said, adding that all of them were not vaccinated against the disease.
The third phase of mpox vaccination began yesterday, he added.
There are 79 clinics and hospitals where people can directly book a vaccine appointment, as the online willingness registration platform is no longer in use, he said.
Members of high-risk groups who are eligible for the mpox vaccine are advised to get it as soon as possible, and about 27,000 people who have had a first dose can book an appointment for a second dose, as long as it has been at least 28 days since their first, Lo said.
The first dose can provide 40 to 80 percent protection after 14 days and the second dose can increase that protection to about 90 percent, he said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and