Taiwan on Wednesday reported 28,168 new COVID-19 infections and 25 deaths from the disease, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).
The new cases represented a 46.7-percent increase from the same day a week earlier, and also continued a trend of higher case numbers seen over the past three weeks, CECC data showed.
Case numbers have risen every day from the same day the previous week since Dec. 9, except for on Dec. 19 and Dec. 20.
The relative increase in case numbers has been particularly noticeable since Dec. 22, rising between 15.6 percent and 47.1 percent per day.
Increases or decreases in case numbers are measured against case numbers on the same day the previous week because different days have different reporting characteristics. Case numbers reported Monday, for example, are typically the lowest of the week.
The deceased reported on Wednesday ranged in age from their 50s to their 90s. All but two had underlying health conditions, while 10 of them were unvaccinated against COVID-19, the CECC said.
Also on Wednesday, the CECC reported 83 new cases classified as moderate and 30 as severe.
Regional breakdown
Regionally, New Taipei recorded the highest number of new cases, with 5,657, followed by Taichung with 3,600 and Taoyuan with 3,252.
Taipei reported 3,211 new cases, Kaohsiung 2,712, Tainan 2,323, Changhua 1,324, Hsinchu County 1,089, Hsinchu City 924, Miaoli 668, Pingtung 506 and Yunlin 484.
Keelung had 361 cases, Yilan 353, Chiayi County 345, Nantou 343, Chiayi City 248, Hualien 229, Taitung 130, Kinmen 128, Penghu 52 and the Matsu Islands three, the CECC said.
To date, Taiwan. which has a population of roughly 23.25 million people, has recorded 8,766,272 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began in early 2020, including 39,796 classified as imported.
With the 25 deaths reported on Tuesday, the number of confirmed COVID-19 fatalities in the country rose to 15,145.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel