A man has been arrested after deliberately coughing in the face of a paramedic, police said.
The ambulance service was called just before 11pm on Saturday to a man in Stroud, Gloucestershire, who was feeling unwell.
"They attended an address where another man who was self-isolating allegedly deliberately coughed in the face of one of the paramedics," a spokeswoman for Gloucestershire Police said.
"The man, a 43-year-old, was arrested, charged and remanded for assaulting an emergency worker by way of coughing and threatening GBH by infecting with Covid-19."
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has warned that purposefully coughing at someone while claiming to have coronavirus could bring an assault charge.
Some emergency workers and other frontline staff have said people claiming to have Covid-19 have coughed at them deliberately.
The CPS has said that anyone coughing as a threat at key workers or members of the public can be charged with common assault.
Anyone aiming coughs and spits at emergency workers whether they claim to have the virus or not can be punished under a separate law.
Max Hill QC, Director of Public Prosecutions, said earlier this week: “I am therefore appalled by reports of police officers and other frontline workers being deliberately coughed at by people claiming to have Covid-19.
“Let me be very clear: this is a crime and needs to stop. The CPS stands behind emergency and essential workers and will not hesitate to prosecute anybody who threatens them as they go about their vital duties.”
