On 8 August 2020, two men of Chinese origin, Martin Hong and Arthur Ma, were attacked in a physical and verbal racist assault whilst shopping in a supermarket in Cork County Cork. The assault happened after Martin and Arthur were racially abused by a group of teenagers who were shouting "Chinese virus". Hong and Ma asked the teenagers to repeat what they said after removing their phones. To which the teenagers retaliated by violently punching the pair. An elderly woman raised the alarm by contacting Gardaí. Hong and Ma spent six hours receiving medical care after the pair were admitted to Cork University Hospital. Gardaí later issued a statement about the incident which was confirmed and they said they were following a "definite line of enquiry".[233]