This photo captures people wearing face masks waiting to cross a street in Hong Kong, April 5, 2021. (LI GANG / XINHUA)

HONG KONG – Hong Kong is eyeing “vaccine bubbles” for residents who had already been vaccinated as the city reported 13 new cases on Monday, pushing its tally to 11,594.

In a press conference on Monday afternoon, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said city’s outbreak was “obviously contained” and that “vaccine bubbles” would allow vaccinated people to visit nursing homes and hospitals and take part in events such as weddings.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said city’s outbreak was “obviously contained” and that “vaccine bubbles” would allow vaccinated people to visit nursing homes and hospitals and take part in events such as weddings

“I hereby encourage all citizens to get vaccinated and support our new direction in fighting the pandemic to protect ourselves and family members,” Lam said. “Hong Kong’s vaccination rate can be improved further. In other words, it’s not ideal, especially considering that we have very sufficient supply and convenient infrastructure.”

If more people get vaccinated, restaurants could extend dine-in hours to 2 am and as many as eight people would be able to sit at a table, up from just four now, Lam said. Bars and nightclubs could reopen on a limited basis if all staff and customers are vaccinated and use the government’s contact tracing app.

ALSO READ: HK to delay imports of Astra vaccine amid safety concerns

For now, social distancing measures will be extended for another two weeks to April 28 as authorities monitor the virus situation following the Easter holiday.

“If suddenly Hong Kong faces a major surge as a result of the Easter holiday, then we may need to revisit and refine these measures,” Lam said. Otherwise, the new measures could be introduced if preparatory work and discussions with stakeholders can be completed within the two-week period.

Lam said, in late April, the "Return2hk" travel scheme which allows Hong Kong residents returning from neighboring Guangdong province or the Macao Special Administrative Region to be exempted from a 14-day quarantine will be expanded to other mainland provinces.

In mid-May, non-Hong Kong residents will be allowed to enter Hong Kong from the mainland without compulsory quarantine, she added.

Furthermore, Hong Kong will lift the restrictions on people boarding flights from Britain to Hong Kong in early May, but these people will still have to be quarantined for 21 days upon arrival, Lam said.

Hong Kong launched a COVID-19 vaccination drive on Feb 26. About 578,900 people have received their first dose of vaccine, and over 250,000 have received their second dose so far.

Meanwhile, the 13 new COVID-19 cases on Monday included two local infections, one of which involved a 14-year-old boy who lived at Yau Oi Estate Oi Fai House in Tuen Mun, according to the Centre for Health Protection (CHP).

The patient, a student at Shun Tak Fraternal Association (STFA) Tam Pak Yu College in Tuen Mun, was a family member of a 71-year-old man and a 63-year-old woman who were infected earlier.

So far, the building has seven confirmed COVID-19 patients.

The other local case involved a 35-year-old woman who developed symptoms on Saturday. She was linked to a previous infection.

The imported cases on Monday involved five patients from India, three from Pakistan, two from Indonesia and one from the Philippines, the CHP said.

The city recorded 135 new cases over the past two weeks, including 27 local infections, 10 of which were untraceable, the CHP added.

With inputs from Agencies