An Austrian woman, 54, has been convicted of fatally infecting her neighbor with COVID-19 in 2021, resulting in her second pandemic-related conviction within a year. She received a four-month suspended sentence and an 800-euro fine for grossly negligent homicide. The victim, a cancer patient, succumbed to pneumonia caused by the virus, with virological evidence linking the infection to the defendant "almost 100 percent", said an expert.
"I feel sorry for you personally—I think that something like this has probably happened hundreds of times," the judge noted. "But you are unlucky that an expert has determined with almost absolute certainty that it was an infection that came from you." Despite issuing the sentence, it isn't yet final, per Austrian news agency APA. Due to privacy laws, the identities of the involved individuals were withheld.
Last year, the woman was sentenced to three months' suspended imprisonment for intentionally endangering others with communicable diseases. This week, the deceased's family testified about a Dec. 21, 2021, contact between the neighbors. The defendant denied the meeting, saying she was in bed with what she thought was bronchitis, but her doctor confirmed to police she had tested positive for COVID-19 and refused isolation, telling him she "certainly won't let herself be locked up." (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP)
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