Elderly man in China wipes spit all over elevator buttons

An elderly man in northern China deliberately applied spit onto the buttons of an elevator.

The video, shot in the city of Datong in Shanxi Province on February 7, shows an old man standing at the lift entrance, spitting onto his hand and then rubbing his hand onto the buttons.

Property management received a report from a resident who found the buttons were abnormal and investigated the case.

Tensions are running high in China due to the coronavirus outbreak. The virus reportedly killed 97 people in China on Sunday alone, making it the deadliest day yet.

After officials found the old man, they checked his temperature and asked him the reason.

The old man and his family reportedly had normal temperatures and did not have any links with anyone from other virus-hit provinces. He said that he was just joking.

After being told off by the police officer, he admitted his fault and apologised.

The elevator was halted for half a day after sanitation workers had disinfected it twice. The lift was back to normal and It was then being disinfected once in two hours.