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MEXICO CITY, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- COVID-19-infected migrants who enter Mexico without complying with health regulations could be committing a crime, the National Institute of Immigration said on Thursday.

The agency issued the warning after hundreds of migrants left Honduras Tuesday night on their northbound journey to the United States as part of a new caravan, which crossed the Honduran border with Guatemala on Thursday.

Mexico's federal penal code penalizes a person with up to three years in prison if "knowing that he is ill with a serious illness and is infectious that puts the health of another in danger," the agency said.

The criminal codes of Mexico's southern states of Chiapas and Tabasco, which border Guatemala, also establish penalties of up to five and 10 years in prison, respectively.

The caravan is the first to mobilize during the pandemic since the last caravan departed in January. Enditem