Taiwan confirms three cases of Brazil coronavirus variant

Taiwan's government said on Sunday that it had confirmed three cases of the COVID-19 variant first discovered in Brazil, and that all arrivals from that country would undergo centralised quarantine from this week.

Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said the three people, whose initial infections officials announced last month and are being treated in the hospital, had been confirmed on Saturday to have what is known as the P1 Brazil variant.

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Chen added that starting at midnight on Wednesday, anyone arriving in Taiwan from Brazil or who had been in Brazil the previous 14 days must quarantine at a centralised facility for two weeks, as arrivals from Britain and South Africa also must to prevent the spread of separate variants found there.

Everyone else arriving in Taiwan must quarantine at home for 14 days, and those people are closely tracked by authorities to make sure they don't go out.

Brazil, the country with the second-highest coronavirus death toll, passed the 10-million mark for reported infections, amid a deadly second wave and problems with its vaccination campaign.

Over the same one-day period, 1,367 people died, bringing the total to over 243,400.

Brazil's figure of 10,030,626 came amid mounting criticism of how President Jair Bolsonaro's government has handled the epidemic and vaccination response.

As Brazil battles a second infection wave, it also has to deal with a new virus variant, thought to be more contagious, rapidly spreading around the country.

Taiwan has kept the pandemic well under control thanks to early and effective prevention, including largely closing its borders. There are only 40 active cases being treated in hospitals.