A chief constable in the UK is calling for police to be vaccinated after a man spat at an officer and claimed to have coronavirus.
The man was one of 23 suspects being held by Leicestershire Police on Saturday for various offences.
The man spat in the face of an officer who was "thankfully" wearing a mask and PPE gear, Leicestershire's chief constable Simon Cole tweeted.
"This kind of incident is why officers and staff need vaccinating," Cole wrote on Saturday.
Leicestershire's police force was hit with an increase of assaults on officers in 2020, with 205 assault incidents noted in the first three months of lockdown, up from 101 the previous year.
Similar incidents have occurred in New Zealand - an Auckland man was charged with attempting to infect three police officers after spitting on them and claiming to have COVID-19 in March.
In September, Cole told regional newspaper Leicester Mercury that offenders spitting and coughing on officers had become a "particularly distasteful trend".
"The rise in assaults has huge impacts on staff both physically and mentally, and it has a huge impact on communities.
"Thousands and thousands of days of policing are lost because of these assaults."
Leicestershire, which is northeast of Birmingham, recorded 733 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, as the UK grapples with a surge in infections.
The UK recorded its highest ever daily case total on Saturday (local time), a further 57,725 cases and 445 deaths.
