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Hong Kong protesters torch planned coronavirus quarantine building

Protesters set alight the lobby of a newly built residential building in Hong Kong on Sunday (January 26) that authorities planned to use as a quarantine facility for the coronavirus outbreak.

Earlier in the afternoon, hundreds of Hong Kong citizens blocked roads leading to the public housing block in the Fanling district as anger increased over government plans to convert it into a quarantine zone. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the city climbed to six on Sunday.

The fire was later put out by firefighters and the damage appeared to be confined to the lobby area. Hundreds of riot police also moved in, arresting at least one person.

As fears about the virus outbreak intensify, calls have grown for Hong Kong's government to block the financial hub's border with mainland China to minimise the risk of infection.

Hong Kong's government said on Sunday it will ban residents of China's Hubei province, where the new coronavirus outbreak was first reported, or people who have visited Hubei in the past 14 days from entering the city from Monday (January 27).