Coronavirus prank: Man jailed for 10 days for pretending to cough up blood in front of scared subway passengers
A man has been jailed for around ten days after he pretended to have coronavirus and coughed up "blood" while on a subway in Kazakhstan.
The unnamed man had been caught on camera performing an irresponsible prank in front of terrified passengers while he was on board a crowded train in the southern city of Almaty. In the video clip, the man is seen staining a napkin with fake blood before getting onboard the train.
He then enters the carriage and says, "Folks, let’s see what fake blood, unhealthy look and coronavirus rumors can do. Let’s go!" The footage shows him proceeding to cough into the napkin as other passengers look at the stain of 'blood' in shock and horror, the Sun reports.
The prankster then escalates the situation by coughing at passengers around him who immediately start to back away. After the video was shared online, the man was identified, tracked down, and arrested for his juvenile prank.
Police spokesman Saltanat Azirbek spoke to local media and shared, "The clip, which violates all moral and ethical standards, was spotted on the Internet during police monitoring. The young man was identified and detained."
"He was charged with hooliganism by the court and placed to detention jail for 10 days," Azirbek continued. The prankster then publicly apologized to citizens and to all those he had offended. "I did not mean to scare anybody. I do not suffer from coronavirus. It was just an innocent prank," the man said.
Local authorities have confirmed four cases of COVID-19 in the city. Around nine people in total have been affected by the virus in Kazakhstan. The main signs of the virus include fever, a cough, and also shortness of breath. Breathing difficulties are also a symptom of the deadly virus that has been named a pandemic by WHO.
Currently, the coronavirus has affected around 152 countries and territories worldwide.