A woman walks through an empty party district where bars have been closed due to COVID-19 coronavirus restrictions in Hong Kong on Dec 24, 2020. (ISAAC LAWRENCE / AFP)

HONG KONG - Hong Kong recorded an uptick in COVID-19 cases on Monday as the city logged 41 new infections, 38 of which were locally transmitted.

Monday’s count included 11 untraceable local cases, said Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Centre for Health Protection’s communicable disease branch, at a press briefing.

Monday’s count included 11 untraceable local cases, said Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Centre for Health Protection’s communicable disease branch, at a press briefing

The city has recorded 25, 33, 45, 59 and 31 new cases, respectively, over the past five days.

Two new patients belonged to a cluster related to a Central Kowloon route construction site, said Chuang. So far, eight workers and a close contact of one of the infected workers have been traced to the site.

READ MORE: 20 untraceable COVID-19 cases among 59 new in Hong Kong

Of the imported cases, two were from the United States and one from the Philippines, Chuang said.

The city’s tally of confirmed infections stands at 9,283 as of Monday. According to Chuang, about 40 preliminarily positive cases had been recorded before the briefing started at 4:30 pm. 

Also on Monday, a command center for contact tracing was commissioned at Kai Tak Community Hall in Kowloon City with officers from the city’s police force as well as customs and immigration departments joining forces with health workers.

Director of Immigration Au Ka-wang and Commissioner of Customs and Excise Hermes Tang Yi-hoi inspected the venue on Monday morning.

ALSO READ: HK sees 31 new virus infections, including 9 of unknown origin

Also at Monday's briefing, Chuang told reporters that residents of three more buildings would face a mandatory testing order. The premises include Metro Harbour View Tower 7 in Tai Kok Tsui, King Lam Estate King Tao House in Tseung Kwan O and Yat Tung Estate Kit Yat House in Tung Chung.

Hong Kong & Kowloon Ferry Ltd reported six staff members, including a ferry captain, as well as two close contacts of the infected personnel as having COVID-19, Chuang said.

A day earlier, Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung iterated in his Sunday blog that the government’s goal is to achieve “zero infection” at an early date as more manpower would be devoted to contact tracing.

He also said an online vaccination booking system will be set up soon to facilitate the city's planned massive inoculation program.