A star ferry is seen coming into dock through a window of the ferry terminal of Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong on May 31, 2020. (ISAAC LAWRENCE / AFP)

HONG KONG - Hong Kong will extend an eight-person limit on group gatherings by two weeks as new COVID-19 cases caused by a novel coronavirus emerged, Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee said on Tuesday.

The announcement came as Hong Kong reported six new COVID-19 infections caused by a novel coronavirus, bringing the city’s tally to 1,093

A 14-day mandatory quarantine order for travelers from the Chinese mainland, Macao and Taiwan will be extended to July 7 while that for overseas arrivals will be extended by three months through Sept 18, the health chief said.

The announcement came as Hong Kong reported six new COVID-19 infections, bringing the city’s tally to 1,093.

READ MORE: Hong Kong reports 3 new local COVID-19 cases

Four new patients live in Luk Chuen House, Lek Yuen Estate in Sha Tin, bringing the number of patients in the cluster to nine.

Chan said the decision to keep the curbs in place had been influenced by the discovery of the new cluster.

The first two cases in the new cluster -- a husband and wife -- were confirmed on Sunday. Since then four neighbors, two of the wife's work colleagues, and a fire department medical officer who had sent the woman to hospital have been confirmed to have been infected. None had been abroad recently.

The infected woman is a night-shift worker at a Kerry Logistics warehouse, where she labels food items imported from Britain, local media reported.

Chan said that the building involved had been cleaned and more than 1,000 sample bottles have been handed out for virus test use.

As more than 800 residents of the building had submitted their samples, Chan appealed to the rest to return them as soon as possible. She also called on all members of the public to maintain personal hygiene and keep social distancing.

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Earlier on Tuesday, Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said authorities are concerned about a new cluster of cases that indicates transmission both at home and in the workplace, and will exercise caution in removing restrictions. 

"I am very worried about this outbreak in community, not because of the number of nine confirmed patients, but also because this particular cluster reflects some characteristics which we might not have seen before," Lam said, adding that an investigation was underway.