Most of Sunday’s ten new hospitalized A(H1N1) swine flu cases were children, including a one-year-old, the Centers for Disease Control announced on the eve of the new school year.

The rise to a total of 75 cases came just one day after the CDC announced a record one-day increase of 11. “Hospitalized cases” is the new name the government began using last week instead of “severe cases” because the latter was more likely to create unnecessary panic, the CDC said.

Taiwan has recorded five deaths from the swine flu virus, while 31 people were still hospitalized and 39 returned home.

Sunday’s new cases included five children of one, three, six and seven years of age, and three teenagers, the CDC said. The only two adults among the new group were a 27-year-old man in the south and a 45-year-old woman from the north. Six of the new patients were women, and four men, according to the CDC.

More than 12,000 people are infected with the flu virus each week, the CDC said. Some experts have predicted 7 million, or about one third of Taiwan’s entire population, could be infected with the virus, with between 5,000 and 10,000 eventually dying.

Monday is supposed to be an important day on the A(H1N1) calendar because of the start of a new school year at primary and secondary schools. Students who are found to have a fever of 38 degrees Celsius or more will be immediately sent home, reports said. The government encouraged parents to measure their children’s temperatures before they set off for school on Monday morning.

The schools plan to measure the temperatures of students, teachers and outside visitors on a regular basis, while the teachers have been asked to monitor their students for symptoms of the flu.

The government has implemented a so-called “3-2-5 formula” to respond to swine flu outbreaks at schools. If two students are confirmed with the virus within three days, the classes will be suspended for five days.

In another effort to meet increasing fears about A(H1N1), the government announced yesterday that two million masks would become available at convenience stores over the next week. The masks will cost NT$6 a piece, the CDC said.

CDC Chairman Kuo Hsu-sung admitted on Sunday that there was a shortage of masks, but it only affected cheaper products. Releasing the new masks on to the market might cause a drop in prices, he said.

In addition, the government will distribute 250,000 doses of Tamiflu, one of the main anti-flu drugs, to local communities on Tuesday according to their population levels. County and city governments will announce on the Internet which clinics will have the medicine on sale.

In a related statement, the Department of Health denied reports on Sunday that women should not be vaccined against A(H1N1) during the first three months of pregnancy. The vaccines are expected to be distributed in Taiwan from November.