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Wales Online
Wales Online
National
Thomas Deacon

Lockdown protesters gathered in Cardiff near where the First Minister lives and chanted 'arrest Mark Drakeford'

Anti-lockdown protesters gathered in Cardiff near where the First Minister lives and chanted "arrest Mark Drakeford".

Hundreds of people marched through the centre of the Welsh capital on Saturday afternoon before arriving near the First Minister's home at around 4pm.

The march was one of several held across the UK and Europe on Saturday, attended by thousands against current coronavirus restrictions and those who wrongly believe the pandemic is a hoax.

Read more: 'I was dying with coronavirus in intensive care and now people tell me it was a myth'

Videos from the scene shared on social media show people shouting "arrest Mark Drakeford" and police officers nearby on Cathedral Road. Others could be heard chanting "freedom".

Many in the capital branded their actions as "idiotic" and "unbelievable", with others criticising some of the banners used, including one which compared the lockdown to "apartheid".

Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies tweeted: "Disturbed to see crowds gathering outside Mark Drakeford’s home this afternoon.

"If you have political disagreements (and believe me [and Drakeford] and I have many) then get involved in politics. Harassment is never acceptable. Thoughts are with the First Minister and his family."

At around 4.10pm, bus company Stagecoach said two of their services were unable to serve Cathedral Road "due to police diversions". South Wales Police officers were pictured at the protest.

The protesters had cleared from the busy road by around 4.30pm.

Professor Dylan Jones-Evans, who lives nearby, wrote on Twitter: "This is what’s happening at the end of my street today. Whatever opinion you have of the First Minister, to have these so-called protestors shouting and screaming outside his private home is completely unacceptable."

It comes as coronavirus cases are now rising faster for the most recent wave of the virus than they were at the start of the second wave last autumn.

It's been 60 days since the lowest number of daily coronavirus cases between the two waves but the Welsh infection rate is set to overtake the last peak in a little over a month.

Based on the current trends, it's possible to predict when the seven-day infection rate will overtake the peak of the second wave, which topped out at 649 cases per 100,000 just before Christmas. You can read more here.

However at the moment, hospitalisation rates remain far lower and the number of people dying with Covid is still very low.

What do you make of the protest? Let us know in the comments below

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