A man visits a viewing deck in Hong Kong on September 20, 2020. (MAY JAMES / AFP)

HONG KONG - Hong Kong reported seven new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Friday, including a chef in a Japanese restaurant at the upscale IFC shopping mall in Central.

In a media briefing on Friday afternoon, Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) Communicable Disease Branch, said the new cases included four imported infections and three local cases, two of which were of unknown origin. The city's tally of confirmed cases stood at 5,104.

A health official said the two local cases with untraceable origins included the 33-year-old male chef who still came to work late last month even though he was not feeling well

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Chuang said the two cases with unknown origin included the 33-year-old male chef at the "Mu-ni" restaurant in IFC.

“He prepares cooked food. On Sept 25, he had fever and he visited a doctor. He last went to work on the 29th,” Chuang said.

“After having fever, he continued to go to work for a number of days. So for patrons visiting this restaurant after the 23rd of Sept, if you have any symptoms, please go see a doctor. If possible, please contact us for specimen bottles,” she said.

Chuang said the CHP had also contacted the restaurant to see if they have booking records.

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Chuang said the restaurant was closed for 14 days and the chef’s 13 co-workers had gone to a quarantine center.  

The CHP also arranged for specimen bottles to be given to residents of the building in Wan Chai where the chef lived, she added. 

Chuang said the chance of the chef infecting customers was “not very, very big” since he stayed in the kitchen and wore a face mask while cooking. 

“We don’t think the chance is very, very big because he was responsible for preparing cooked food and not the raw food. He was wearing a mask when preparing the dishes,” she said. 

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Chuang said the second case of unknown origin involved the male nurse at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital who was reported to be preliminary positive on Thursday while the third local case was linked to previous infections.

The imported cases involved a pilot from Germany, a returnee from the UK, a domestic helper from the Philippines, and a returnee from Nepal, Chuang said. 

According to the Hospital Authority, there were 122 COVID-19 patients being treated at 17 hospitals as of Friday. Ten of these patients were in critical condition, eight in serious condition, while 104 were stable.