TAIPEI — Taiwan will close all schools and education centers for 10 days amid a rapid rise in COVID-19 cases, the country's health ministry announced on Tuesday.

"Because of the raising of coronavirus alert levels in Taiwan, and in order to reduce the infection risks for gatherings, all the schools and kindergartens will stop in-person learning from May 19 (Wednesday) to May 28 (Friday) and education facilities like daycare centers and cram schools will need to stop in-person classes too," the ministry said on its official Twitter account.

"All the students please study at home,” it said.

In Taipei and New Taipei, all schools and kindergartens were already closed for two weeks starting on Tuesday, while several local councils have also been suspended.

The East Asian country will temporarily ban foreign nationals from entering the country, beginning on Wednesday (May 19), the country's Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) decided on Monday.

The ban comes after the country reported at least 335 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, its highest number of infections in a day since the pandemic began. Of the new cases, 333 were locally transmitted.

The ban will be effective from May 19 to June 18 "and will be adjusted on a rolling basis based on the status of the pandemic and effectiveness of those measures," the CECC said.

"Exceptions may be made for individuals who obtain entry permission for emergency or humanitarian reasons," the CECC added. — Agencies