Taipei:Taiwan's influenza outbreak has seen severe cases and deaths reach their highest weekly totals in a year, as reported by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on Tuesday.

According to Focus Taiwan, over 1.457 million people have been vaccinated with publicly funded flu and COVID-19 shots since the latest campaign began on October 1. During the week of September 27 to October 3, there were 139,060 outpatient and emergency visits for influenza-like illness, a slight decrease of 1.4 percent from the previous week, yet flu activity continued at epidemic levels.

CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Kuo Hung-wei noted that between September 29 and October 5, 219 new severe influenza cases and 44 deaths were recorded, marking the highest weekly totals of the 2025-26 flu season. The dominant influenza A viruses, particularly the H1N1 subtype, accounted for 90.7 percent of cases. The new flu season, starting October 1, 2026, has already seen 30 severe cases, all caused by H1N1.

In the previous flu season, Taiwan registered 1,862 severe cases and 378 deaths. Most severe cases involved individuals aged 65 or older or those with chronic illnesses, with 67.2 percent not having received that season's flu vaccine.

COVID-19 activity in Taiwan continues to decrease but remains at epidemic levels. From September 27 to October 3, there were 7,836 COVID-19-related outpatient and emergency visits, a decline of 26.7 percent from the previous week. Between September 29 and October 5, 37 new domestic severe cases and 16 deaths were reported.

As of Monday, 1.062 million flu shots and 395,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered, both figures surpassing the same period last year. The uptake among those aged 65 and older increased by about 10 percent, with 660,000 doses given in the first five days of the campaign. A new incentive program offering digital "Health Coins" for eligible vaccine recipients has contributed to this increase.