Mexicans deported from the United States arrive at an international airport in Mexico City, Mexico, May 22, 2020. (Photo by Francisco Canedo/Xinhua)

Aristobulo Varon, one of the repatriated, told local press that none of the deportees had been tested, and the validation relied only on the fact that they had presented no obvious symptoms of the novel coronavirus.

Soraya Marquez, an infectious disease expert and coordinator of healthcare recovery at the Juan N. Corpas Clinic in Bogota, said the United States has been careless by flouting standard health protocols amid a raging pandemic that has infected over 6.8 million people worldwide and killed more than 390,000.

"I think it has totally failed, precisely for not following protocols, since the presence of COVID-19 has been proven in patients that are completely asymptomatic, which is why you have to undertake stringent measures, studies and tests to rule out and/or confirm the diagnosis so as not to increase the number of infections," said Marquez.

The U.S. performance in the pandemic has "put many people at risk," she said. "The message is clear: life takes precedence over any other interest."