Sweden’s teens warned to stop deliberately coughing on the elderly in despicable ‘coronavirus challenge’

Authorities in the Swedish municipality of Eslov have warned residents that teenagers are knowingly coughing, sneezing, and spitting beside the elderly in the so-called ‘coronavirus challenge.’

Parents have been advised to “talk” with their children after a number of reports of targeted unsavory and unsanitary behavior by the local youth against the elderly. Sweden has opted not to impose restrictions on the freedom of movement of its citizens, contrary to most other countries. 

However, universities and high schools have shut, meaning a bored youth is apparently looking to entertain itself at the expense of the elderly.

“Some of our elders have been exposed to youths knowingly coughing, sneezing, and spitting in their vicinity in the streets and in stores. Talk to your youth and, above all, respond if you see someone out to provoke and behave disrespectfully,” Eslov Municipality wrote on Facebook.

Many people online called the behaviour “disgusting” and “absolutely senseless” though some accused the municipality of spreading “fake news” from “racists” and that “young people” was a code word for something entirely different. 

“It has come to our knowledge that older people feel insecure. That young people cough and shout ‘corona’ only to walk away and laugh,” Ingrid Westerlund, the head of operations at Eslov Municipality, told Swedish Radio.

Meanwhile, a migrant duo from Eskilstuna behind the YouTube account “Alpha & Ali” posted a video several days ago in which they approached random people on the street while pretending to cough while claiming they have coronavirus.

Local Social Democrat politician Maria Hind Alias tweeted, describing the pair as “general idiots” while inviting them to try and prank her, promising she’ll “be nice” before vowing to call their parents and inform them that they have raised “two full-scale idiots.” As of Tuesday morning, Sweden has a reported 4,028 cases of coronavirus infection, resulting in 146 deaths. 

Sweden is not alone when it comes to distasteful coronavirus-themed pranks, however, as similar instances of attention-whoring have appeared online as Generation Z tries to outdo itself in the middle of a pandemic, all for the sake of staving off boredom.

Irish police have made several arrests after youths were caught coughing on or spitting at members of the general public in what Ireland’s Health Minister Simon Harris described as “disgusting” and “pathetic” behaviour.

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