Premier Chang San-cheng says that the peak flu season has already passed in Taiwan, but right now, the nation is facing a peak in severe cases. He was speaking Sunday following a meeting with the health minister and the head of Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
The premier on Sunday urged the public not to worry about congested hospitals. He said that although the media have been reporting on a lack of room for patients with severe cases of the flu, authorities have already directed hospitals to make more beds available for those patients. He said that a total of 118 hospitals throughout Taiwan are prepared to take on more patients with severe cases of the flu.
CDC Director-General Steve Kuo says that the flu season peaked in Taiwan during the nine-day Lunar New Year holidays, which concluded about two weeks ago. He said that the number of cases this year was higher than in previous years, due to large fluctuations in the weather, but that the cases have tapered off. Kuo said that the number of new severe cases reported on February 23 was 105. That was the highest number of severe cases reported in a single day. He said that the peak in severe cases is not likely to taper off until next week.
So far, a total of 961 severe cases of flu have been reported this season, 69 of which have resulted in death.