TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Visitors from Myanmar will be quarantined at centralized centers starting Sunday (July 18) as the country has been listed as high-risk due to COVID-19.

The measure applies to individuals who have traveled to, or transited in Myanmar over the past 14 days upon entry. They will be required to undergo three COVID tests throughout their isolation, including two PCR tests at the beginning and end of quarantine, and one rapid test between Day 10-12.

The costs of the centralized isolation and screenings will be shouldered by the government, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced at a media briefing Friday (July 16). A total of eight countries are now classed as high-risk places, including Brazil, India, the U.K., Peru, Israel, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Myanmar.

The Southeast Asian nation has seen a surge in COVID infections, with daily cases soaring from less than 50 between February and May to over 4,000 in the past week. It has recorded 212,545 cases and 4,346 deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

The fresh outbreak has been linked to clusters in communities bordering India, with many found to have been caused by the highly contagious Delta variant. The COVID situation could be worse than expected in the country that has been mired in months of unrest since the coup d'état in February, said CECC.