Two women sit on a bench overlooking the Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong on Sept 29, 2022. (ISAAC LAWRENCE / AFP)

HONG KONG – Hong Kong’s health authorities recorded 9,996 new coronavirus infections on Friday, a day after the daily caseload had surpassed the 10,000 mark. 

Eleven more COVID-19 patients passed away, taking the city’s tally of death since the start of the pandemic to 10,773, the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health said in a statement.

Director of Government Logistics Carlson Chan tested positive for COVID-19 through a polymerase chain reaction-based nucleic acid test, said a spokesman for the Government Logistics Department

The new cases consisted of 9,359 local infections and 637 imported cases.

Among the imported cases, 387 were identified at the Hong Kong International Airport, 192 during days 1 to 3, and the remaining 58 from days 4 to day 7.

As of Friday, the Public Health Laboratory Services Branch (PHLSB) had identified 224 cases of sub-lineage XBB, six of XBD, eight of BA.2.75.2, seven of BA.4.6, 13 of BF.7 and 36 of BQ.1.1 among the imported cases.

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Also, 104 cases of sub-lineage XBB, 18 of XBD, one of BA.2.75.2, four of BF.7 and 117 of BQ.1.1 were detected among the local infections.

Among the specimens received by the PHLSB during Nov 23 to 29 for verification testing of local cases, about 72.4 percent of them (seven-day moving average) were related to the BA.4 or BA.5 (including suspected cases) Omicron sub-variant.

Meanwhile, Director of Government Logistics Carlson Chan tested positive for COVID-19 through a polymerase chain reaction-based nucleic acid test, said a spokesman for the Government Logistics Department.