A couple walks along a street in the Central district of Hong Kong on Sept 8, 2021. (KIN CHEUNG / AP)

HONG KONG - The Hong Kong government announced the easing of COVID-19 restrictions for gyms as the city reported two fresh imported virus cases on Tuesday, pushing the city's tally to 12,148. 

In a statement, a spokesman said the government would introduce a new arrangement for fitness centers under "vaccine bubble" to relax the distance restriction among participants of training groups or classes of more than four persons.

The new patients included a 49-year-old man who traveled from Qatar and a 53-year-old woman who came from the Philippines, the Centre for Health Protection said

Most existing social distancing measures, meanwhile, will be extended for 14 days until Sept 29.

Under the new rule, training groups of more than four persons at gyms will be allowed if all staff members present in a room have completed the vaccination course. Participants will need to be arranged in sub-groups of no more than four persons. Each sub-group should keep a distance of at least 1.5 meters from others or be separated by partitions.

All people present in the room must wear a mask at all times, including when exercising, the spokesman said.

Tuesday's new patients included a 49-year-old man who traveled from Qatar and a 53-year-old woman who came from the Philippines, the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said. 

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Both of the patients were asymptomatic and had been fully vaccinated in Hong Kong.

The man, who stayed at Metropark Hotel Kowloon in Ho Man Tin, received two doses of the CoronaVac vaccine on March 18 and April 15.

Meanwhile, the woman, who stayed at Ramada Hong Kong Grand in Tsim Sha Tsui, took the Comirnaty jabs on April 10 and May 1.

A total of 41 cases have been reported from Aug 31 to Sept 13, all of which were imported, the CHP said.

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