Starting from tomorrow all business travelers arriving in Taiwan, irrespective of which country they are from, will be required to undergo 14 days of quarantine rather than the shorter periods some of them currently enjoy, health authorities announced Wednesday, CNA reports.

The announcement came after the country recorded its first case of a British variant of the coronavirus that day.

According to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), all business travelers, with the exception of those who have acquired entry approval before January 1, will be required to complete 14 days of mandatory quarantine, followed by an additional seven days of self -health management -- a policy currently imposed on all non-business overseas arrivals -- to stem the spread of the virus.

The tighter measure for business travelers came after a Taiwanese teenager who returned from the U.K. on Sunday was confirmed on Wednesday to be infected with the new variant of the virus detected there.

Fewer than 20 business travelers have obtained the entry approval that will allow them to be exempt from the new quarantine rules, CECC spokesman Chuang Jen-hsiang told CNA.

From June this year, business travelers from countries deemed to be at low or low-to-moderate risk for the virus have been able to apply to be quarantined for fewer than the normal 14 days, as long as they take a self-paid test at the end of their quarantine and it comes back negative.

Those from low risk countries can apply to have their quarantine lifted on the fifth day after arrival, while those from low-to-moderate risk countries can do so after seven days.

The shorter quarantine policy for business travelers was part of the nation's efforts to revitalize the domestic economy amid the pandemic.

The updated list published by the CECC on Wednesday classified 13 countries and regions as low risk -- New Zealand, Macau, Palau, Fiji, Brunei, Laos, Nauru, Timor-Leste, Mauritius, Vietnam, the Marshall Islands, Singapore and Cambodia.

Australia has been identified as a country of low-to-moderate risk.

All business travelers must complete 14 days of mandatory quarantine, followed by an additional seven days of self -health management.

Taiwan to quarantine all business visitors for 14 days