Taipei, Nov. 25 (CNA) Five foreign nationals from Indonesia and the Philippines who came to Taiwan to work have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the number of cases in the country to 623 since the pandemic began late last year, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Wednesday.

Three of them are Indonesian women in their 30s and 40s who arrived in Taiwan on Nov. 10 to work, Minister of Health and Welfare and CECC head Chen Shih-chung said at a press briefing in Taipei.

None of the three showed symptoms upon arrival, but when they were tested for COVID-19 on Nov. 23 just before completing their mandatory 14-day quarantine period, their results came back positive on Wednesday, Chen said.

The other two cases involve a Filipina in her 20s and a Filipino in his 30s who arrived in Taiwan from the Philippines on Nov. 10 and Nov. 11, respectively.

Neither of them showed symptoms while in quarantine but both were later diagnosed with COVID-19 after being tested on Nov. 23 and Nov. 24, just before completing their quarantine, according to Chen.

The five patients have been put into isolation at local hospitals.

To date, Taiwan has recorded 623 cases of COVID-19, 531 of which have been classified as imported. Of the total, 553 patients have recovered, seven have died and 63 are currently hospitalized, according to CECC statistics as of Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the CECC removed Mongolia from its list of low-to- moderate COVID-19 risk countries from which business travelers can apply for shorter quarantine periods upon arrival in Taiwan, citing a recent surge in the number of cases there.

In Taiwan, business travelers from countries deemed to be at low-to-moderate or low risk for COVID-19 can apply to be quarantined for fewer than the normal 14 days, as long as they take a self-paid COVID-19 test at the end of the quarantine period 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.

Also that day, Singapore and Cambodia were added to the list of low risk countries.

The updated list published by the CECC on Wednesday classified 15 countries and regions as low risk -- New Zealand, Macau, Palau, Fiji, Brunei, Thailand, Bhutan, Laos, Nauru, Timor-Leste, Mauritius, Vietnam, the Marshall Islands, Singapore and Cambodia.

The CECC listed Hong Kong and Australia as being of low-to-moderate risk.