A teenage South Korean student that arrived from the United States is likely to face stern punishment for passing airport quarantine checks after taking medicine for a fever to hide symptoms of the coronavirus.

Kwon Jun-wook, deputy director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(KCDC), vowed strict consequences for the act during a press briefing on Sunday.

Kwon said that in accordance with relevant laws, the government will take steps to ensure stern punishment for the student's "illegal and wrongful" act that could have caused massive damage to public health. 

He stressed that people who provide a false report to quarantine officials can be jailed for up to one year and fined up to ten million won.

Late last month, the student reportedly took medicine for fever in high doses before departing from the U.S. and again after arriving in South Korea to pass quarantine checks although he or she had symptoms before departure. The student then tested positive for COVID-19 on March 26 in Busan.