Outrage as Hong Kong bans face mask usage

Hong Kong’s chief executive Carrie Lam has used a colonial-era emergency law to ban face masks to try to quell months of anti-government unrest.

She said the ban would come into force on Saturday, after an escalation of violence during protests on October the 1st.

Ms Lam said the decision was taken because the situation could not be allowed to get worse.

Protesters, who have promised to defy the new law, immediately took to the streets in response.

Mask-wearing activists also called on others to wear masks in defiance of the government, which critics fear is becoming increasingly authoritarian.

Observers say the regulation will be hard to enforce and hugely controversial.