Taipei, Sept. 25 (CNA) A Philippine national who entered Taiwan two weeks ago has been diagnosed with COVID-19, and the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Friday the disease was contracted before the person arrived in Taiwan.

The new case brings the total number recorded in Taiwan to 510 since the country reported its first COVID-19 infection on Jan. 21.

The Filipino, who is in his 30s, arrived in the country on Sept. 10 for work purposes and was tested for COVID-19 upon arrival, as is required for all arrivals from the Philippines, CECC spokesman Chuang Jen-hsiang said at a press briefing in Taipei.

The man had no symptoms at the time and his COVID-19 test came back negative, Chuang said, noting that the individual was subsequently placed in a government-designated quarantine facility.

The man came down with diarrhea on Sept. 21-22, however, and was given a second COVID-19 test on Sept. 24 prior to the expiration of his 14-day quarantine on the following day, which came back positive.

On Friday, Chuang told CNA that migrant workers coming from the Philippines and Indonesia, where COVID-19 cases have surged, to Taiwan to work have been required by health authorities since Sept. 7 to undergo a second COVID-19 test prior to being released from quarantine.

The man from the Philippines has now been transferred to a negative pressure room at a local hospital, Chuang said.

The CECC spokesman said the CT value of the Filipino's polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test was above 33.6 and his test for IgG antibodies came back positive, suggesting that he contracted the disease three weeks earlier, before his arrival in Taiwan.

According to Chuang, IgG antibodies generally start appearing two to three weeks after the infection.

To date, Taiwan has recorded 510 cases of COVID-19, with 418 classified as imported. Of the total, 480 have recovered, seven have died, and 23 are in the hospital, according to CECC data. The last time Taiwan recorded a domestic infection was on April 12.