Pedestrians donning masks to guard against the coronavirus cross a road in Hong Kong, July 22, 2020. (CALVIN NG/CHINA DAILY)

Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection (CHP) reported 26 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday.

The share of local cases with untraceable origins has fallen to the lowest level since the current virus wave -- the city’s worst outbreak ever -- started

The newly-reported cases included three imported cases and 23 local infections, a health official said in a media briefing.

Among the 23 local cases, 15 were linked to previous cases while eight cases had no known origin. The death toll from the virus also rose to 72, the health official added.

Hong Kong had seen a fall in the proportion of infections with unknown origins, boosting hopes that stringent city-wide containment measures can be eased.

The share of local cases with untraceable origins has fallen to the lowest level since the current virus wave -- the city’s worst outbreak ever -- started. In the past five days, such cases have not crossed the 35 percent mark, down from the peak of about 60 percent in mid-July when the virus were quietly spreading in the community. 

More than two-thirds of the Hong Kong’s 4,586 reported cases have emerged since July.

ALSO READ: HK sees 36 new virus cases, halts meat imports from Brazil plant

These infections, where patients cannot be linked to other confirmed infections or existing outbreaks, indicate hidden chains of transmission. 

A high proportion of such cases forces public health authorities to take blunt and broad action such as shutting down entire cities as they race to stamp out the stealthy novel pathogen.

A falling share of untraceable cases in Hong Kong signifies that recent social distancing measures have been effective in slowing transmission. New overall infections have also dropped to less than 100 local cases for over two weeks.

ALSO READ: HK govt poised for third round of anti-epidemic disbursal

Still, the government is projecting caution. “There is no room for complacency in epidemic control,” a spokesman for the Food and Health Bureau said in the statement Monday, warning that the third wave of infections is declining much slower than the second, despite more stringent border and social-distancing controls.