Netherlands’ Amsterdam & Rotterdam order people to wear masks in busy streets

The two most populous cities in the Netherlands began ordering people to wear face masks in busy streets on Wednesday, amid rising coronavirus infection rates. Police in Rotterdam said a number of people opposed to the mask order staged a protest in the downtown area where masks became obligatory.

Amsterdam ordered masks to be worn in the red-light district and busy shopping streets and markets. Many visitors to the narrow lanes and canal-side roads of the neighborhood ignored the instructions, despite signs informing people of the new measure.

The mask orders came into force a day after the Dutch public health institute reported a near-doubling in confirmed infections in a week to 2,588, the AP news agency reports.