Pedestrians donning face masks walk across a street in Central district, Hong Kong, Oct 6, 2020. (PARKER ZHENG/CHINA DAILY)

HONG KONG - The Hong Kong government is studying mandatory coronavirus testing, including the legal framework involved, in the event of another outbreak, Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee said Thursday as the city recorded 18 infections with one of unknown origin.

Describing the current situation as “the beginning of a resurgence”, Chan told reporters the government did not rule out the possibility of bringing back stricter social distancing rules. 

The government said a series of measures will be stepped up to contain the epidemic, including investigation and tracking of confirmed cases, strengthening community-level testing and specific group testing, setting up temporary testing centers in areas with large clusters of infections, and urging the hospitality industry to strictly implement infection control measures.

Later in the day, Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection (CHP) reported 14 local infections and four imported cases. Eleven were recorded at Home of Treasure, a private care home in Kwai Chung for people with disabilities.

A health official said the city’s overall tally stood at 5,161. From Oct 2 to 8, 35 local cases were recorded in comparison to just eight infections the week before

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“The third wave never ended,” Constance Chan Hon-yee, director of Department of Health, said at the same briefing.

“Local cases are obviously on the rise...The virus is spreading in the community. It’s worrying that the situation is aggravating."

The latest infections have pushed the city’s tally to 5,161. From Oct 2 to 8, 35 local cases had been recorded in comparison to just eight infections the week before.

The Department of Health director said health authorities are studying the feasibility of setting up temporary testing centers in districts such as Kwai Chung, Kowloon City, Tsim Sha Tsui and Wan Chai, where large numbers of infections were recently detected.

She also said that the authorities will meet representatives of the city’s hospitality sector over their implementation of social distancing rules after groups of guests reportedly held parties in their rooms during “staycations".

The case with an unknown origin involved a retired 65-year-old man who lived in North Point and who had visited fitness clubs in Causeway Bay and Wan Chai, said Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the communicable disease branch of the CHP. 

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She said an infection cluster related to China Secret, a pub in Tsim Sha Tsui, saw its tenth patient on Thursday. The 29-year-old man visited Virgo Bar and Restaurant in the same district on Sept 30.

Chuang added that four imported cases on Thursday included two from India, one from Russia and one from Tunisia.

Speaking on a radio program on Thursday, Yuen Kwok-yung, a top microbiologist at the University of Hong Kong, said the double-digit daily increase was expected to continue for a while even though stricter measures were re-imposed as there had been infections in multiple densely populated districts.

According to Hong Kong's Hospital Authority, 121 patients are still hospitalized, including 10 in critical condition.

With inputs from Xinhua