Refusing Quarantine & False Health Reports Face Prison Sentence

Now that the outbreak seems to have been under control in most parts of China, rumors have been going around about people refusing to quarantine themselves after traveling back to the country from overseas despite the government’s strict regulations and continuous announcements.

As a result, five authorities — the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Justice and the Central Administration of Customs — have joined forced to issue stricter terms covering border control and quarantine requirements at a press conference this past Monday, March 16, as well as legal consequences for travelers not following the rules.

Anyone who fails to report symptoms of a disease or illness, or attempts to falsify information input on their immigration card upon entering the country will be faced with legal action according to Chinese criminal law.

The guidelines communicated during the press conference outline additional instances that would identify people as high-risk illegal trespassers at the border:

1. People refusing health checks or quarantine orders from customs;

2. Travelers who provide misleading or false information concerning their health on their health immigration card upon arrival;

3. Anyone found in any mode of transport who may be infected by the virus and attempting to cross the border, and refusing health quarantine or sanitization;

4. Drivers of any mode of transport coming from a country or region deemed high risk who intentionally hides this information from authorities in order to cross the border.

Any such individual will face severe criminal charges under Chinese law of three years in prison or detention, as well as considerable fines on top of their sentence if it is found that they were responsible for spreading the disease even further.

As mentioned and reinforced in many of our previous articles, we have to work together to ensure everyone abides by the laws and regulations put in place, all of which are implemented for the good of our communities and the country as a whole. 

Editor: Crystal H

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