French doctor claiming Covid-19 infection jailed for coughing at police

LILLE, FRANCE A French doctor who claimed to have coronavirus and coughed at police responding to a domestic violence callout has received an effective twoyear jail sentence, officials told AFP on Tuesday. The 66-year-old doctor from a hospital in the northern city of Lille was taken into custody at his home on Saturday, a police source said. His wife told officers the doctor was on medical leave on suspicion he may have contracted COVID-19. Arresting officers provided the doctor with a mask and gloves for the car ride to the station, but “he took off his mask and coughed in the car… declaring that he had COVID-19 and that they will now catch it,” the Lille prosecutor´s office said. “He coughed in an exaggerated manner while telling the officers he knew it scared them.—AFP