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Man charged after allegedly coughing on colleagues and saying ‘I’m going to give you Covid’

<p>The man insisted on coming in to work despite suffering Covid symptoms </p>

The man insisted on coming in to work despite suffering Covid symptoms

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A man who apparently deliberately coughed on his work colleagues while suffering from Covid-19 symptoms has been charged with intentionally causing injury.

The 40-year-old, from Spain, allegedly continued to go to work despite having a temperature of more than 40C as well as a cough.

He refused to go home and self-isolate despite the pleas of his co-workers, police on the island of Mallorca said in a statement.

Showing no improvement, he is said to have gone for a PCR test before visiting his local gym and returning to work the next day.

Continuing his refusal to go home, he allegedly instead walked around his workplace, lowering his face mask and coughing on people, saying: "I’m going to infect you all with the coronavirus.”

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Five colleagues and three fellow gym-goers later tested positive for the virus, police confirmed.

Another 14 people – family members of the infected – including three infants, also reportedly contracted the disease.

Fortunately, none of those infected required hospitalisation, police said.

Authorities began an investigation into the incident following the outbreak at the company where the suspect worked.

A judge charged the man, who was not identified by police, and released him on Saturday evening to await trial, Spain’s Europa Press news agency reported.

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