Authorities in the central Vietnamese province of Quang Nam have quarantined 21 Chinese nationals who had entered the country illegally and were found staying at a local villa.

When officers inspected the villa in Dien Duong Ward, Dien Ban Town on Saturday, many people inside the venue started to run away in different directions.

With the help of local residents, officers were able to apprehend a total of 21 Chinese nationals.

All of them were later sent to a quarantine center in Tam Ky City, the provincial capital.

They have been tested for the novel coronavirus once, and the results came back negative.

Local authorities will continue to monitor their health during the quarantine period.

Preliminary investigation showed that the Chinese citizens had entered Vietnam against the law, Senior Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Thanh Long, deputy director of the provincial Department of Police, said on Monday morning.

However, it remains unclear how exactly they had traveled to the Southeast Asian country.

Tran Uc, chairman of the People’s Committee in Dien Ban Town, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that the administration is finalizing procedures to impose a maximum penalty on the owner of the villa.

The owner went against regulations when allowing the foreigners to stay at the place without identification papers, Uc elaborated.

The number of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients in Vietnam stood at 384 on Monday evening, with 360 having recovered, according to Ministry of Health statistics.

The country has made it mandatory for all international arrivals to be quarantined for 14 days to prevent the spread of COVID-19, with those dodging the quarantine facing administrative fines of VND5-10 million (US$215-430).

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