A woman walks in front of a mural depicting movie legend Bruce Lee in Hong Kong on Jan 30, 2022. (MLADEN ANTONOV / AFP)

HONG KONG – Hong Kong reported 131 new COVID1-9 cases on Friday as health authorities described the local situation as “not doing well,” with the ratio of untraceable cases rising to a record high of 45 percent.

All but one of the new cases were local infections, including 59 untraceable cases, Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Communicable Disease Branch of the Centre for Health Protection, said in a briefing in the afternoon.

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These infections involved more than one generation of transmissions, making it more difficult to trace the source of the virus, the CHP Controller Edwin Tsui Lok-kin said in the same briefing.

Hong Kong has so far 220 cases with sources that cannot be immediately identified. The ratio has risen to 45 percent from fewer than 10 percent at the beginning of January, said CHP Controller Edwin Tsui Lok-kin

"The local situation is not doing well, with more than 100 COVID-19 cases every day and the number is on the rise," Tsui said. 

Hong Kong has so far 220 cases with sources that cannot be immediately identified. The ratio has risen to 45 percent on Friday from fewer than 10 percent at the beginning of January, Tsui said.

He called on members of the public to observe good personal and household hygiene, including washing their hands frequently and putting water in the U-bend of the drain outlet.

People should also avoid cross-family gatherings as much as possible and receive vaccination, which is an important measure to bring Hong Kong out of the pandemic, he added.

The untraceable cases were detected all over the city, with Sham Shui Po reporting the most number of cases at 10.

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Others were found in Discovery Bay, Tung Chung, Shek Kip Mei, Yuen Long, To Kwa Wan, Cheung Sha Wan, Tsuen Wan, Wan Chai, Stanley and Ping Chau.

They are also detected in Queen's Terrace in Sheung Wan and Grande Promenade in Sai Wan Ho – both are private housing estates on Hong Kong Island.

Some of the unlinked cases involved construction site workers at various locations, including Fo Tan, Tai Wai, a CLP project on Argyle Street and a redevelopment project in Kwun Tong, according to Chuang.

Among the untraceable confirmed cases was a staff member of the Yuen Long branch of Japanese restaurant Gyu-Kaku, prompting the government to put the eatery in the compulsory testing notice.

The financial hub saw 195 preliminary positive cases, also a record high since the beginning of the pandemic two years ago.