A New Mexico woman is facing a felony charge after she allegedly coughed in the face of two healthcare workers. Police said that Joy Ebel, 53, was in the waiting area at La Familia Medical Center in Truchas when she took off her mask.
Staff members asked her to put the mask on correctly, but she refused and started screaming at the employees. At one point, Ebel got nose-to-nose with one of the workers and allegedly coughed in her face. Authorities said that Ebel also coughed at another employee and that both people were wearing PPE at the time.
Ebel has not tested positive for COVID-19. The healthcare workers were asked to self-isolate as a precaution and have not shown any symptoms.
Ebel was charged with battery, and the charges were upgraded to a fourth-degree felony because her victims were healthcare workers.
Ebel has denied the official version of events and claims she did not cough on anybody.
"I did lift up my mask to breathe, from the bottom, because I have claustrophobia. I lifted it up," she told KRQE. "When I took my mask off, she acted like I pulled out an AK-47, and she started this crisis actress, some kind of rehearsed hysteria."
If convicted, Ebel faces up to 18 months in jail and a fine up to $5,000.
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