US vows to treat people who infect others with Covid-19 as terrorist

The United States of America (USA) Justice Department has said it would not tolerate attempts to use COVID-19 as a weapon against Americans.

It said Americans who purposelly expose and infect others with coronavirus could face criminal charges under federal terrorism laws.

This was contained in a fresh memo signed on Wednesday by Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and sent to all US states Attorney Generals

According to the memo, anyone infected with the deadly virus caught intentionally exposing himself with the intent to infect others would be treated as a terrorist by law enforcement agencies.

In the US, the third-degree terrorism charge carries a sentence of three to five years in state prison.

Part of the memo signed by Rosen and sent to Justice Department states, “Coronavirus appears to meet the statutory definition of ‘biological agent’ under 18 U.S.C., [which means that] such acts could implicate the Nation’s terrorism-related statuses.

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“Threats or attempts to use COVID-19 as a weapon against Americans will not be tolerated.”

Almost 60,000 Americans have tested positive to COVID-19 and about 1000 persons have died as a result of the deadly virus started from China in December, 2019.

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