Nine people who refused to stay at home for medical observation of the novel coronavirus have been put under compulsory quarantine in Wuxi, East China's Jiangsu province.

Workers of the city's Yunlin community noticed that two adults from Wuhan, together with two children, went to Wuxi to spend the Spring Festival with their relatives on Jan 22. They spat on the ground, smoked in the community, and played with other children without wearing face masks.

Police and community workers repeatedly explained the situation and protective measures to the nine people of the family, but they still refused to stay at home for observation. They were placed under compulsory quarantine by the police and will be investigated according to the law if their behavior caused serious consequences by spreading the virus.

Jiangsu province reported 29 newly confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus as of midnight on Jan 28, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the province to 99.

Among the newly confirmed cases, 14 were in Nanjing, 20 in Suzhou, and nine in Wuxi. A total of 1,483 people are currently under close medical observation throughout the province.