Daily COVID-19 hospitalizations rose 17% last week as illness, seasonal flu and enterovirus remain at their peak, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, while reporting the youngest flu-related death this year, four years. Older boy.
The director of the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Center, Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉), said the average daily number of other people hospitalized for moderate to severe cases of COVID-19 reached 244 last week, compared with 208 cases last week per day, and 76% were other people 65 years of age or older.
COVID-19 genomic surveillance data showed that 65 percent of local cases sequenced last week had Omicron XBB subvariants of SARS-CoV-2, while 32 percent had the Omicron subvariant BA. 2. 75, he said.
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The daily average of COVID-19 deaths last week was 28, which also topped the previous week’s average of 20, according to CDC data.
Of the deaths recently shown, 94% had underlying physical conditions, 94% were 60 years or older, and 58% received a booster dose.
CDC Deputy Executive Director Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said the rate of positive tests in residential care facilities, which can be an indicator for estimating mild new cases, was about 1. 7 percent last week, the same as the week before.
This suggests that the existing wave of COVID-19 infections has likely peaked, Lo said.
An estimated 23,000 to 28,000 new mild infections are reported each day, and that figure is stagnating or starting to decline and would require more over the next two weeks, he said.
However, hospitalizations or deaths may continue to rise, as those are lagging indicators, he added.
Last week, the CDC reported 79,205 hospital visits for influenza-like illness, 18 severe flu headaches, and 4 flu-related deaths, Guo said, adding that 15 severe cases and the other 4 people who died had the influenza A (H1N1) virus.
CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said the youngest flu-related death this flu season was an unvaccinated four-year-old boy in southern Taiwan, who developed a fever and cough, and rushed to the emergency room after losing consciousness. the next day .
He was admitted to an intensive care unit on the third day.
The boy received antiviral drugs but died of acute encephalitis on the seventh day after the onset of symptoms, Guo said.
Children are at risk for flu-related neurological headaches, so parents should pay attention to symptoms of encephalitis, such as unconsciousness and seizures, and seek immediate medical attention, he said.
The CDC also reported 13,065 hospital visits for enterovirus last week, a decrease from last week but still at a plateau, he said.
The momentary case of Japanese encephalitis this year reported in Kaohsiung last week, he added.
Lo said enterovirus infections are expected to remain at their peak during the month, before falling below the epidemic threshold early to mid-next month, while flu infections are expected to rise slightly over the next two weeks.
Lo said that last week 18 local instances of mpox, the weekly number, were shown.
With the highest number of new unvaccinated infections, CDC encourages another 26,000 people eligible for a momentary dose of the vaccine to get vaccinated as soon as possible.