Coronavirus: protesters arrested as light rail station vandalised during demonstrations against Hong Kong government’s handling of outbreak

Hong Kong police made multiple arrests on Saturday as a peaceful march against the government’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak turned violent.

Demonstrators set fire to a card machine and threw rubbish bins onto the tracks at Tin Sau Light Rail station, in the northern town of Tin Shui Wai, while police responded by pepper spraying those involved and detained at least 20 people.

Protesters took to the streets in three districts, with small groups in Kennedy Town and Tai Po demonstrating against clinics in those areas being assigned to treat suspected cases of the virus, which causes the disease officially known as Covid-19.

Although there were no arrests in Tai Po, the Hospital Authority claimed the Tai Po Jockey Club General Out-patient clinic, one of the 18 designated clinics on the list, had been vandalised. It condemned the action and said it had reported it to the police.

Police said they received a report from a security guard at the clinic at 9.30am, and discovered some broken glass at the scene, but said the clinic itself was not damaged.

In Tin Shui Wai, about 500 people joined an officially approved rally from the Wang Yat Square shopping centre at 3pm, and marched through residential estates and public parks to raise awareness of their protest.

They chanted a mixture of slogans, including the anti-government movement’s “five demands, not one less”, and also called for local consultation on the health crisis and a “full border shutdown”.