ISTANBUL

Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Tuesday that COVID-19 cases doubled last week, with over 40,000 people seeking medical treatment, Focus Taiwan reported.

"The current outbreak is continuing to rise rapidly, with a sustained increase in severe and fatal cases," Lee Chia-lin, deputy director of the CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Center, said.

From May 18 to 24, there were 41,402 outpatient and emergency visits related to COVID-19, more than double the 19,097 visits recorded the previous week, according to CDC data.

This marked the seventh consecutive weekly increase, with previous week’s total also surpassing the 23,555 visits reported during the same period in 2024.

CDC spokesperson Lo Yi-chun explained that while increased testing during the outbreak may have uncovered previously undetected cases, the main cause of the surge is the rapid spread of the virus.

Lo noted that the new variant NB.1.8.1 has strong immune evasion abilities which allow it to bypass the body's existing defenses more easily, and is more transmissible than earlier variants.

Additionally, Lo pointed out that the lack of a major outbreak during winter meant many people were not exposed to the latest variant and therefore lack immunity from natural infection.

While the CDC had initially estimated that the current COVID-19 outbreak would peak in mid to late June with weekly medical visits reaching up to 100,000, Lo stated that recent projections now suggest the peak will be delayed until late June or early July, with weekly visits expected to rise to between 150,000 and 200,000.