Hong Kong third wave: 64-year-old could be first prosecuted for violating new public transport mask rules amid Covid-19 spike
- The man allegedly became agitated and produced a wooden pole when MTR staff demanded he wear a mask
- Separately, police are hunting for a man caught beating a McDonald’s employee on video after being asked to don a mask in the restaurant
The stricter new rules, which became enforceable on Wednesday amid a major uptick in local infections, legally require all passengers on public transport to wear a mask or face fines of up to HK$5,000.
Separately, police are searching for a customer at a McDonald’s in Tuen Mun who attacked the restaurant’s manager in the early hours of Tuesday after being asked to put on a mask.
Most of the city’s commuters were law-abiding as the new rules took effect on Wednesday, according to Post reporters who visited bus and rail stations in Kam Tin, Hung Hom and Causeway Bay.
That was not the case at the Tai Wai MTR station, where police said a 64-year-old man allegedly produced a wooden pole when station staff asked him to put on a surgical mask at about 8.30am.
He then boarded a train before police arrived, only to be intercepted at Hung Hom MTR station and arrested for possession of an offensive weapon.
