(To watch the full press briefing with sign language interpretation, click here.)

The Centre for Health Protection today said it is investigating 52 additional COVID-19 cases, of which 11 are imported and 41 are locally transmitted.

The centre said that 21 of the local cases are related to previous cases, while 20 are those with unknown sources of infection.

Its Communicable Disease Branch Head Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan told a press briefing this afternoon that the Government is isolating cases, tracing close contacts and quarantining them, along with testing those who are not close contacts.

However, she pointed out this strategy alone may not be able to slow down the epidemic.

“We are seeing more and more unknown local cases without an identifiable source. So it is very possible that there are a lot of asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic cases in the community.

“So waiting to test them, then isolate them and quarantine their contacts is a bit slower than if everybody stays at home and practises infection control measures and avoids activities so that even those who have symptoms or those cases, they won’t contact other people. So once they are diagnosed they can be isolated to reduce the number of close contacts as soon as possible.”

Dr Chuang also reminded people to remain vigilant and observe personal hygiene and social distancing.

For information and health advice on COVID-19, visit the Government’s dedicated webpage.