The rise brought the total of cases to 149 and came a day after the World Health Organization advised against all but essential travel to the capital Taipei.

In Taipei, authorities sealed off the Huachang Public Housing Complex on Friday and ordered all 471 residents to be quarantined inside. The measures followed reports that three residents had Sars symptoms, and one of them, an elderly man living alone, died 10 days ago.

'Their homes are adjacent so we highly suspect there were community infections,' Taipei health chief Chiu Shu-ti said of the three houses where suspected cases were reported.

None of the more than 100 people already quarantined in their homes at the complex by Friday noon had a fever, health officials said. Huachang residents who were outside would be asked to return to the complex immediately for quarantine, officials said.

Teams of city workers were already spraying disinfectant near the buildings, while police set up road blocks to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the area.

The complex of square brown apartment blocks lies in the capital's relatively poor Wanhua district, where two hospitals have already been sealed off after Sars outbreaks.

There were also fears that the disease was spreading from the Taipei area in northern Taiwan to the south.

The death toll still stood at 14. Some 26 patients have recovered.