Thousands arrested for ‘virus-related crimes’ in China

This article is more than 12 months old

Sep 01, 2020 06:00 am

BEIJING Nearly 5,800 people suspected of attacking and killing health workers, selling defective medical equipment and lying about their travel history have been arrested in China since January, the state prosecutor's office said.

One case involved a shopper who beat to death another customer who reminded him to wear a mask in a supermarket.

Other virus-related cases included a person who deliberately mowed down medical workers with a car, and another arrested for stabbing a health inspector with a dagger during temperature monitoring.

Some have also been accused of embezzling money collected from fundraisers to help coronavirus patients, selling defective medical equipment and lying about their travel history or health condition.

"From January to July, 5,797 people were arrested and 6,755 were prosecuted," the Supreme People's Procuratorate said in a statement last week.

The statement did not specify how many people were still in detention or whether some had already been sentenced.