A blind woman was deliberately coughed on in the face as she walked with her guide dog.
Police are investigating after the victim, in her 50s, was in Melksham, Wiltshire, was attacked on Saturday evening.
The dog indicated that someone was nearby so the woman called out saying she could not carry out social distancing because she was unable to see - and asked the person to keep away.
Instead, the person approached the victim and coughed in her face, with the woman feeling their breath against her cheek.
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Sergeant David Hambly, who is investigating the incident, appealed for witnesses to come forward.
"Due to the current climate, the victim felt especially anxious and shocked by this person's actions and immediately went home and washed her face and hands," he said.
"This is completely unacceptable behaviour and we are treating this as an incident of hate crime - the suspect in this case has shown complete disregard for this woman's health and vulnerabilities, and I know members of the local community will be both saddened and disappointed to hear of this person's actions.
"Unfortunately, we do not have a description of the suspect, but we would urge anyone who may have seen this interaction to get in touch - do you live in Halifax Road?
"Do you have CCTV fitted to your property? Or were you driving in the area with a dash cam fitted to your vehicle?
"If so, you may have captured footage of the suspect so please do call us."
