TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan on Tuesday afternoon (March 17) added Japan, Thailand, and three U.S. states to its list of countries with a Level-3 warning, meaning that passengers arriving from those areas must undergo a 14-day quarantine.

As new cases of Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) have started to pour in from overseas, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced on Tuesday (March 17) that its travel advisories for 20 countries in Asia, Eastern Europe, and North America have been raised to a Level-3 warning. Among the countries on the list include Japan, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, and three U.S. states.

As Health Minister and CECC head Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) on Tuesday announced that Taiwan has 10 more imported cases because the pandemic outside of Taiwan has continually expanded. As the number of cases climbs, Chen said that many countries have declared a state of emergency and adopted strict border control and quarantine measures.

Chen noted that the epidemic situation in the U.S. has continued to worsen. Therefore, he said that the CECC has raised the travel alert for the U.S. states of Washington, New York, and California to Level 3.

He said that a Level-3 warning has also been issued for 19 Asian countries: Japan, Singapore, North Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, East Timor, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, India, and the Maldives. The latest European country to designated Level 3 is Moldova.

The CECC chief said that Taiwanese travelers should avoid all unnecessary travel to the above-mentioned countries and regions. In addition, as of 4 p.m. on March 17, Taiwan time, those who have already boarded planes in these countries should carefully monitor their health for 14 days once they arrive in Taiwan, while those had yet to board a plane by that time will need to undergo a full 14-day quarantine upon arriving in Taiwan.

As for the other 47 U.S. states, Chen said that passengers arriving from those states must practice strict self-health management for 14 days.

Taiwan's Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on Monday raised its alert for 42 countries and one territory in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, and North Africa to a Level-3 warning.

The countries and territory covered by the Monday announcement are as follows: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, Georgia, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Libya, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, North Macedonia, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, and Yemen. Travelers from these countries will be required to follow a 14-day period of home quarantine after entering Taiwan.

This list has been added to 27 European countries and Dubai, which were listed as Level 3 on March 14, as well as Iran, China, South Korea, and Italy.