Three of the 11 RCMP officers in the Mayerthorpe detachment are now in self-quarantine after two people they arrested deliberately coughed on them.

RCMP said a 20-year-old man was exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 when he "purposely coughed into an officer's face."

When a 35-year-old woman visited the suspect in hospital, a police news release said, "she purposely coughed on one of the RCMP officers." She was also showing coronavirus symptoms.

The man faces one count of assaulting a peace officer and four counts of mischief under $5,000 and was remanded into custody.

The woman faces two counts of assaulting a peace officer, resisting arrest and two mischief charges. She was released on house arrest, but a day later RCMP found her walking around a Mayerthorpe nursing home parking lot and charged her with failing to comply with the conditions of her release. She is now in custody.

"We had three officers who were exposed," RCMP Cpl. Deanna Fontaine told CBC News. "Those three officers, immediately following this, were taken out of service and are isolating as a result of this."

Fontaine said RCMP knows the male suspect was tested for COVID-19, but health privacy legislation means they don't know if he tested positive.

"The issue of people trying to cough on police members has been occurring since the very beginning of this pandemic," she said. "So our members have been facing this for weeks and weeks."

A similar incident happened last week in Wetaskiwin, when RCMP responded to a disturbance and arrested a 59-year-old man for allegedly breaching his release conditions.

"The male stated he had COVID-19, and coughed intentionally into an officer's face and again when escorted to the police car," an RCMP news release said. "The male intentionally coughed into another officer's face when being processed at the detachment."

That man was also charged with assaulting a peace officer. But in that case, Cpl. Laurel Scott said the members put on personal protective equipment once they were confronted.

After the accused was checked over by paramedics, he was deemed to be asymptomatic for COVID-19 and was remanded in custody.

In that case, the two officers did not have to self-isolate.

Fontaine said officers from other detachments have been moved into Mayerthorpe while the three members are under quarantine.

Mayerthorpe RCMP detachment (RCMP )

'This sort of behaviour is inexcusable'

The head of the Edmonton Police Association was furious when he heard what about happened.

"To be brutally honest, I think I'm incensed, irritated and irate when I hear that," Sgt. Mike Elliott told CBC News. "Because our men and women are out there working their butts off protecting the community and they're putting themselves at risk as well."

Edmonton Police Association president Sgt. Michael Elliott (Twitter)

A police spokesperson confirmed the same thing has happened in Edmonton.

"We have seen the occasional incident where a suspect has alleged they have COVID-19, only to retract their statement shortly thereafter," EPS spokesperson Scott Pattison said. "Given the seriousness of the situation out there right now, whereby police officers and other first responders are trying to keep our communities safe in the midst of a global pandemic, this sort of behaviour is inexcusable."

Two Edmonton peace officers and a city bus driver went into self-isolation last week after they were deliberately coughed on by a man claiming to have coronavirus. The police officers were wearing personal protective equipment.

Elliott said he can't understand why some people would go to such extremes.

"Are you actually trying to seriously hurt, harm or even potentially kill a member?" Elliott said. "This is not the time and place to take it out on a member when they're trying to do their job. So it really bothers me to the core when I hear that."

Two of the men charged were remanded into custody at the Edmonton Remand Centre.

On Tuesday, Alberta Health Services confirmed there were no positive cases of COVID-19 in any provincial correctional facilities.