A woman in Dongguan, South China's Guangdong province, has been under investigation since Wednesday for hiding her contact with people from regions hit by the novel coronavirus, according to local police.

Seven members of the woman's family traveled from regions severely-hit by the novel coronavirus to Dongguan on Jan 21. They stayed at the home of the woman, who is surnamed Huang's, in a residential community.

Between Jan 25 to 27, Huang did not report her contact with the seven family members when local disease prevention and control workers conducted checks in the community.

As of Wednesday, three of Huang's family members were confirmed to have developed the coronavirus, with five under medical observation.

Guangdong authorities issued a set of new guidelines on administrative law enforcement on Tuesday, saying people hiding anyone who traveled from or lived in regions affected by the outbreak will be held responsible, or even face criminal charges.

On Tuesday, a 33-year-old man, surnamed Yu, also was under investigation in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong, for hiding contact with his wife, who had already shown symptoms of being infected with the virus, before returning to the city's Haizhu district on Jan 23.

Yu was confirmed with the disease on Jan 31, but still refused to report the family's activities to local disease-control and prevention workers, posing a great threat to public safety, according to the police.