TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A new wave of COVID-19 infections has started, and will reach a peak between late January and early February, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Wednesday (Dec. 20).

The daily number of local COVID cases reached 19,051 Wednesday, a 9% rise from the same day last week, with CECC chief Victor Wang (王必勝) predicting they might soon exceed 20,000.

Nevertheless, he said the current increases were not related to Taiwanese business people returning from China ahead of the Jan. 20-30 Lunar New Year holidays, Radio Taiwan International (RTI) reported. Therefore, the CECC was not planning any special measures for the time being, he said.

The new COVID wave was unlikely to have a major impact, with the peak just over 20,000 local cases a day. Earlier, government officials said they were monitoring pandemic developments in China before deciding whether to resume ferry links between the offshore island of Kinmen and the Chinese province of Fujian, as local politicians have been demanding.

The number of flights from China to Taiwan would be increased, but not the flights in the other direction, as that was dependent on the Chinese government, Wang told reporters. As a result, some Taiwanese might decide not to return home for the holidays, he said.