HK sees 12 new cases as normal public services to resume

HONG KONG - Hong Kong saw 12 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, including five locally transmitted infections, as the government announced the resumption of normal public services from next Tuesday.

Two of the new local cases, both untraced, were identified in the city's free coronavirus testing program that started on Sept 1.

One was a 39-year-old woman who worked for a restaurant in Causeway Bay. Her 5-year-old son also tested preliminarily positive. The other was a 57-year-old woman employed by a restaurant in Yuen Long.

The other three local infections were close contacts of previously confirmed patients.

As of 5 pm on Thursday, more than 1.5 million people had got their swab samples collected, while a total of 21 patients were identified in the program that has been extended until next Monday, according to health authorities.

The seven new imported cases were from India, Iran and the Philippines. The city's total infection tally stood at 4,913.

According to Hong Kong's Hospital Authority, 193 patients are still hospitalized, including 21 in critical condition. The number of deaths related to COVID-19 is 99.

Over the past three weeks, the number of confirmed cases showed a descending trend, said Chui Tak-yi, Under Secretary for Food and Health. However, the infection source of 30 percent of the cases remained unknown. He urged the public to join the screening program to help identify asymptomatic COVID-19 patients in the community as soon as possible.

As the epidemic gradually subsided, the Hong Kong government announced that normal public services will fully resume from Tuesday, with infection control rules like flexible working hours in place. Previously, non-essential and non-emergency services were reduced due to the outbreak.

"The epidemic situation has stabilized this month. Taking into account the needs for the functioning of society, government departments will resume normal public services," a spokesman said in a statement.

"As individual bureaux and departments may require more time to carry out necessary manpower deployment and procure supplies and need to comply with the anti-epidemic regulations, some of their services may be resumed at a later time," the spokesman said.

Game centers and mahjong parlors across the city will be allowed to resume business from Friday after about two months.

The Hospital Authority started on Wednesday subjecting all newly admitted patients at public hospitals to coronavirus tests. HA's Director of Quality and Safety Division Chung Kin-lai said it was a move to prevent young, asymptomatic patients from spreading the disease to elderly patients in wards.