Man at Sydney Bunnings spat on for not wearing face mask

Police are on the hunt after a man spat on a 51-year-old for not wearing a face mask in Sydney.

Police are scouring CCTV footage after a 51-year-old man was spat on at a Bunnings store in Sydney for not wearing a mask.

Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys said the man was being “chastised” by another man at the retail venue about a “face mask issue”.

“The man who was doing the chastising decided to spit at that man,” he told reporters on Thursday morning.

“That behaviour is just disgusting. It is not called for. These are difficult times. (If) people have an issue that they cannot resolve with some cordial communication between two people in and around these retail settings, they should ring the police.”

The top cop said the spitter had not been identified, but said officers were scouring CCTV footage and pleaded with anyone with information about the incident to contact police.

“There is no room to act in what is a criminal act, to go and spit at a person because you don't like the answer that you got in terms of a face mask issue,” Mr Worboys said.

Sydney remains in lockdown as cases escalate. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gaye Gerard

Revelations of the “disgusting” act comes as NSW reported 38 new locally acquired Covid-19 cases on Thursday, which Premier Gladys Berejiklian admitted was “too high”.

She pleaded with people to stop visiting extended family, and to limit compassionate care visits to a single person.

“When we talk about providing care or compassion, we are talking about one person visiting someone who might be isolated, dropping off essential services or goods,” she said.

“We are not talking about visiting extended family members, we're not talking visiting friends. Data over the last few days shows this is how the virus is spreading.”

Originally published as Man at Sydney Bunnings spat on for not wearing face mask