A nurse who was spat at twice as she walked home from a 10-hour shift fears the man who did it wanted her to contract coronavirus.
Sama Shali, 33, had just finished a shift at The Christie Hospital in Withington, south Manchester, and was walking to a nearby tram station, when she was approached by a man in West Didsbury.
The medicine management worker said: ‘I asked him if he could give me some space as he was quite close to me and then he spat in my face.
‘I was so shocked and I told him I was going to ring the police. He just started circling me on his bike and then he did it again – he spat at my face again.’
Sami Shali, 33, was spat at twice as she walked home from a 10-hour shift at The Christie Hospital in Withington, in Manchester. Fortunately two women were on hand to picture the yob
Sama, 33, is concerned her ID badge for The Christie Hospital was the reason for the thug to approach her in West Didsbury on Wednesday. NHS staff have been advised not to wear their uniform on their way to work
Thankfully for Sama, who lives in Stretford, there were two women running nearby who saw the incident and were able to take a photo of the man and make him leave her alone.
Sama said: ‘I am so grateful to the women that helped me.
‘But I am so shocked and upset about it – I just don’t understand why it happened to me.
‘I am scared he might have had coronavirus and wanted to spread it.
‘Now I am scared that I could pass it on to my colleagues or patients.
‘We are short-staffed and I am scared of the impact it will have on my team if I become ill.’
Sama, who has worked in the NHS since 2015 and was previously a pharmacy manager at HMP Manchester, currently works in the cancer research department at The Christie Hospital.
She fears the attacker may have targeted her as her work lanyard was on display.
Sama said: ‘When I went home I had about three showers, not just because I felt dirty but because I was so upset.
‘I spent all of the next morning crying.’
Healthcare workers have been abused and mugged for cash and ID cards amid the coronavirus crisis.
Nurses are being called ‘disease spreaders’ while being heckled and spat at in the streets, according to Royal College of Nursing director Susan Masters
University College Hospital, pictured, has seen its staff targeted by muggers in the past week. Doctors and nurses are now being told not to wear uniform on their way into work
The Royal College of Nursing says its members have been called ‘disease spreaders’ as they head to work on the frontline of the NHS in recent days.
Nurses and doctors have been told not to head to work in their uniform on their way to work and to keep their ID badges hidden, to avoid being preyed upon by petty thieves.
It comes after a thieves tried to mug doctors for their ID cards near Lewisham Hospital and University College Hospital in London.
On Thursday nurses were sent an email advising them not to wear uniform, while other medical staff have been told not to show their NHS ID badges.
The email read: ‘Until further notice, can all nurses no longer wear their uniforms to travel to and from their place of work,’ according to The Times.
‘I’m not surprised, sadly. I know people are worried and upset and we are easy targets,’ one nurse told the paper.
Last week a doctor in Harlow, Essex was approached by a gang of three youths who took him to a cash machine and forced him to withdraw cash.
More than £500 has been raised since a community nurse from Manchester had her car stolen from her drive last Wednesday. The car had her medical kit inside.
Two weeks ago thieves targeted two doctors outside Lewisham Hospital and tried to steal their NHS badges.
Doctors in London have been targeted for their NHS ID badges in London. The ID cards can get staff discounts at restaurants and shops, most of which have closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Stock image
The thieves, who approached the staff members as they walked through a park around the back of the hospital, were unsuccessful.
A similar incident is now thought to have happened at University College Hospital, after two doctors were mugged nearby.
Staff are now being told to keep their badges hidden and only show them to official staff or to a patient.
Abuse against healthcare staff is on the rise, despite being on the frontline, trying to help the country in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
Susan Masters, the Royal College of Nursing’s director of policy, told The Times: ‘I hear from community nurses that they are being heckled at and verbally abused and called ‘disease spreaders’. This is abhorrent behaviour, it must stop.’
Greater Manchester Police is trying to find the man who spat at Miss Shali.
He is described as a white man in his 30s, who was wearing a black jumper with black jeans and was riding a red bicycle.
No arrests have been made.
Anyone with information should contact police on 101 quoting incident number 2139 of 25/03/2020.