Pedestrians wear face masks as they walk along a footbridge to Hung Hom MTR station in the Kowloon district in Hong Kong on Jan 23, 2020. (PHILIP FONG / AFP)

HONG KONG - An official of Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection (CHP) warned on Sunday that the public should be prepared for the possible spread of novel coronavirus in the local community as two of Hong Kong's confirmed cases could not be completely ruled out as locally-transmitted cases.

So far in Hong Kong there are two confirmed cases of which the source of illness is not clear enough to exclude the possibility of community transmission, said head of the Communicable Disease Branch of the CHP Chuang Shuk-kwan.

So far in Hong Kong there are two confirmed cases of which the source of illness is not clear enough to exclude the possibility of community transmission

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According to the latest statistics of the CHP, Hong Kong has registered 15 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection as of Sunday noon. Most of the confirmed cases are imported from Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province.

Chuang said at Sunday's daily press briefing on the epidemic that the public should be prepared for the virus' possible spread in the local community by taking preventive measures and paying attention to personal hygiene.

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From Dec 31, 2019, to Sunday noon, the CHP has received reports of a total of 882 cases fulfilling the reporting criteria, including 15 confirmed cases and 699 cases which were ruled out as novel coronavirus infection. The remaining 168 cases are still hospitalized for investigation.

According to Chuang, another patient has been preliminarily tested positive for novel coronavirus infection and is waiting for further test results.