Story By: John Feng, Sub-Editor:  Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report

This is the moment a commuter punches a cop who stops him from boarding a train because he is not wearing a facemask.

The metro passenger named only as Mr Li reportedly refused to put on a face mask as mandated by the municipal government in Hefei, capital of Anhui Province in East China.

Footage dated 7th February shows Mr Li standing on a platform at Dadongmen Station, which is on Line 2 of the Hefei Metro.

He is surrounded by uniformed police officers who are thought to have followed him from the station entrance, and who appear to be trying to convince him to put on a mask to protect himself from COVID-19.

But when the train arrives and the platform doors open, Mr Li takes a step forwards and tries to enter the car.

He is held back by the officers and responds angrily by twice punching officer Zhu Wenxiang.

As the video ends, Mr Li is put in a chokehold and dragged out of frame.

Hefei police said he had been detained and would be sent home for mandatory quarantine.

Chinese officials are stepping up efforts to improve public hygiene practices and stop the spread of COVID-19, which has killed 1,113 people in the country so far.

More than 44,600 cases of the pneumonia-like disease have been reported in mainland China since December 2019.

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