Story By: Ana Lacasa, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash

Newsflash

This is the moment a man in Italy records himself pulling his face mask down in a supermarket before appearing to spit on the fruit on display.

The local police have reportedly identified the man as a 25-year-old who lives in the city of Caserta, in the province of the same name, in the south-western Italian region of Campania.

In the video which was posted onto Instagram, the man can be seen in a supermarket in a face mask with the word ‘infected’ on the screen.

He then pulls the mask down and appears to spit on the fruit on display before quickly putting his mask back on.

Local media report he has been accused of creating alarm and breaking the rules ordered by the authorities during the lockdown in Italy. He was reportedly accompanied by the police to his house where his mobile phone was seized, according to reports.

The Regional Councillor Francesco Emilio Borrelli, who is a member of the Health Commission, said that “stupidity is reaching limits we never imagined” and added “the incorrect use of social media and the obsession with fame is helping in that sense”.

Borrelli went on: “The idiot in the mask is doing that gesture, spitting on the fruit with a smile on his face, he probably believes he is funny, but he is irresponsible and a criminal, in a moment like this, spreading saliva or bodily fluids is extremely dangerous, doing so voluntarily is similar to an attack on others’ lives.”

The councillor said that they had reported the case to the authorities and asked for them to punish him severely.

It is unclear if he has been charged.

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