A large number of illegal migrants in Bosnia and Herzegovina have been issued mandatory self-isolation orders due to suspicion of coronavirus infection, local media said on Thursday.

Nermina Cemalovic, the Una-Sana Canton's minister of health, confirmed that 715 illegal migrants were now in self-isolation in separate rooms in that part of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

She said that the temporary reception centre Miral in Velika Kladusa, originally planned to accommodate about 1,100 migrants, was currently under the highest pressure.

“A few days ago around 200 migrants crossed the fence and simply entered the camp. They had come back from Slovenia and were immediately placed in isolation. We are monitoring the situation in the isolation area and we have recorded four mild cases to date, two in Miral and two in Sedra. They do not have a temperature, they have a cough, and their condition is under control,” Cemalovic was quoted as saying in Nezavisne Novine daily.

By Thursday, none of the illegal migrants had been tested for the coronavirus, but the Canton's health minister said that that would be done should the need arise.

The largest number of illegal migrants are situated in the Una-Sana Canton, while Bosnian authorities estimate that there were about 5,000 illegal migrants in the country when the epidemic escalated.