On March 31, 2022, the Supreme People's Procuratorate released the sixteenth batch of typical cases involving the COVID-19 handled by national procuratorial organs in accordance with the law, including the case of Mao who was suspected of interfering with the prevention and control of infectious diseases (the "Nanjing Mao Old Lady Case") due to his serious violation of the prevention and control regulations and the widespread spread of the epidemic. According to the disclosure of the highest level inspection, the suspect Mao refused to participate in the nucleic acid test when he knew that he was at risk of contracting COVID-19, and went out shopping and playing cards in the chess and card room for many times without taking any protective measures. After experiencing symptoms, he repeatedly hung up on the phone from the police and disease control department, and therefore intended to conceal the history of living in high-risk areas from the hospital, resulting in the closure of the hospital and the isolation of a large number of medical personnel. Upon investigation, there were 169 close contacts with Mao and 570 close contacts, of which 70 were diagnosed. Mao's behavior seriously disrupted the order of epidemic prevention and control, causing adverse social impact. On February 27, 2022, Mao was arrested with the approval of the procuratorate on suspicion of obstructing the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases.

The author searched and found that in March 2022 alone, the police in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Hebei, Hunan, Shaanxi, Guangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Harbin, and other places nationwide reported multiple cases suspected of obstructing the prevention and control of infectious diseases, with an impressive number and scope. In addition to individuals suspected of committing crimes, units may also constitute crimes of impeding the prevention and control of infectious diseases. On March 22, 2022, the Yuhang District Branch of the Hangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau issued a police briefing stating that Zhejiang Shunlu Logistics Co., Ltd. violated the epidemic prevention and control management regulations in Yuhang District on March 9, causing serious consequences and being suspected of obstructing the prevention and control of infectious diseases. The relevant responsible personnel, Chen, Yang, and Wang, have been taken criminal coercive measures.

So what is the crime of hindering the prevention and control of infectious diseases? What legal provisions are closely related to the epidemic in this crime?

Although the Criminal Law of 1997 added the crime of hindering the prevention and control of infectious diseases, to constitute the crime of hindering the prevention and control of infectious diseases, their behavior must cause the spread of Class A infectious diseases or have a serious risk of transmission. According to Article 3 of the Law on the Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, Class A infectious diseases only refer to pestis and cholera. Therefore, there are few cases of conviction and punishment for the crime of obstructing the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases in practice. After the COVID-19, the National Health Commission issued Announcement No. 1 in 2020, "including pneumonia infected by novel coronavirus into Class B infectious diseases as stipulated in the Infectious Diseases Prevention and Control Law, and taking measures to prevent and control Class A infectious diseases". On February 10, 2020, the "Two High and Two Ministries" jointly issued the "Opinions on the Legal Punishment of Offences Against the Virus Infection Pneumonia Epidemic Situation, Prevention and Control", It clearly stipulates that "if other people refuse to implement the prevention and control measures proposed by the health and epidemic prevention agencies in accordance with the Law on the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases, which causes the spread of novel coronavirus or is in serious danger of spreading, they shall be convicted and punished for the crime of impeding the prevention and control of infectious diseases in accordance with the provisions of Article 330 of the Criminal Law." This provision, in the form of a judicial normative document, clearly includes the acts that cause the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic or are in serious danger of spreading into the adjustment category of the crime of impeding the prevention and control of infectious diseases.

In addition, the Criminal Law Amendment (11) also amends the crime of impairing the prevention and control of infectious diseases stipulated in Article 330 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, mainly in three aspects: First, expand the scope of infectious diseases, and modify "Class A infectious diseases" to "Class A infectious diseases and infectious diseases that are determined to take prevention and control measures for Class A infectious diseases according to law"; Second, add penalties, namely, "selling or transporting items that are contaminated or may be contaminated with infectious disease pathogens in the epidemic area without undergoing disinfection treatment"; Third, modify relevant expressions and broaden relevant concepts, such as replacing "health and epidemic prevention institutions" with "disease prevention and control institutions", and replacing "feces" with "places and items". So far, obstruction of prevention and treatment of COVID-19 has been included in the adjustment scope of criminal law.

Article 330 of the amended Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates that:

"Whoever, in violation of the provisions of the Law on the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases, commits one of the following acts, causing the spread of a Class A infectious disease or an infectious disease that is determined to be subject to prevention and control measures for Class A infectious diseases according to law, or is in serious danger of spreading, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention;"; "If the consequences are especially serious, they shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years:"

（1） The drinking water supplied by a water supply unit does not meet the hygienic standards set by the state;

（2） Refusing to disinfect sewage, dirt, places, and articles contaminated by infectious disease pathogens in accordance with the hygiene requirements set forth by disease prevention and control institutions;

（3） Permitting or conniving at patients with infectious diseases, pathogen carriers, and suspected patients with infectious diseases to engage in work that is prohibited by the health administrative department under the State Council and is prone to the spread of such infectious diseases;

（4） Selling or transporting articles that are contaminated or may be contaminated by infectious disease pathogens in epidemic areas without undergoing disinfection treatment;

（5） Refusing to implement the prevention and control measures proposed by the people's government or disease prevention and control institutions at or above the county level in accordance with the Law on the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases.

The First Case of Crime of Obstructing the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases in Shanghai

As early as March 16, 2020, the first case of the crime of obstructing the prevention and control of infectious diseases in Shanghai was tried and concluded in the Jinshan District People's Court. After being charged by the Jinshan District People's Procuratorate, on January 23, 2020, the defendant Li Mouping had lived in Wuhan City for 3 days and returned to Shanghai after learning that the city was about to be closed. After returning to Shanghai, the defendant hid his travel history in Wuhan in order to prevent infection to his family. He lived in a hotel in Songjiang District, where he took public transportation and entered public places many times. After experiencing symptoms, when visiting a hospital, he not only concealed his travel history in Wuhan, but also closely contacted multiple people in the infusion room. On January 30, after signing the letter of commitment for home isolation, the defendant went out without reporting on January 31, entered the pharmacy, and continued to conceal the travel history of Wuhan while seeking medical treatment in the hospital. As a result, 55 medical personnel and patients were isolated, posing enormous risks and hidden dangers for social epidemic prevention. Finally, the Jinshan Court held that the defendant Li Mouping's behavior had constituted a crime of obstructing the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases, and sentenced him to fixed-term imprisonment of one year and three months, with a suspended sentence of one year and six months.

Recently, in the context of a large-scale outbreak of the epidemic in Jilin, Shanghai, and other provinces and cities, as well as successive positive cases in other provinces and cities, various phenomena of refusing to cooperate in the implementation of epidemic prevention and control policies have occurred frequently, and the number of police notifications and court judgments suspected of obstructing the prevention and control of infectious diseases has also increased significantly. At present, the situation of epidemic prevention and control is very serious. Each of us citizens should enhance legal awareness, adjust our mentality and emotions, consciously abide by various epidemic prevention systems, actively accept nucleic acid testing, actively cooperate with the government and relevant departments to do a good job of information reporting, centralized (or home) isolation, and other measures. Do not try the law and touch the high-voltage line of the law!