In a centralized quarantine site near Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, medical personnel deployed by Shanghai Changning District Health Commission, have been working round the clock, despite risks of infection, for half a month, assisting quarantined inbound travelers and helping to identify possible COVID-19 carriers. Photo: Yang Hui/GT

 Irrespective of their nationality or even if they are stateless, people who violate China's border health quarantine law will be punished, said China's top court and procuratorate officials, as the country is on high alert to prevent imported COVID-19 cases.

Officials of China's Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate said Tuesday that such violators will be subject to the country's law and judicial standards, China's national media CCTV reported.

Infected patients and suspected cases entering China from abroad who refuse to follow health quarantine measures, or conceal or falsify their infection condition, are regarded to have harmed border health quarantine, according to an official document on ensuring the resumption of work and production amid epidemic prevention and control jointly made by five departments, including the top court and the top procuratorate.

Other persons, such as drivers who pick up infected patients or suspected infections but refuse to undergo health quarantine and treatment, are also regarded as having obstructed border health quarantine.

All of the acts mentioned above that cause or are highly likely to cause the spread of infection constitute a crime of harming border health and quarantine.

If the offender refuses to follow the border health quarantine measures or refuses to follow the prevention and control measures after entry, this will constitute a crime of obstructing the prevention and control of infectious diseases and another crime of harming border health and quarantine, and the offender shall be convicted and punished in accordance with the provisions on heavier penalties.

With the risk of imported infections escalating in China, prevention and control of imported cases has become a top priority for entry ports in cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, which are maintaining vigilance against a possible second wave of outbreak and seeking to ensure residents' safety.

For example, all people entering Beijing from overseas are now requested to undergo quarantine for medical observation and take nucleic acid tests starting from Wednesday, the city authorities said on Tuesday, responding to the increasing number of imported cases of the COVID-19.

Global Times