Pedestrians donning face masks walk across a street in Central district, Hong Kong, Oct 6, 2020. (PARKER ZHENG/CHINA DAILY)

HONG KONG - The Hospital Authority (HA) on Monday said it enhanced the COVID-19 testing in Tai Po, where at least nine persons tested positive over the past week, as Hong Kong reported six new imported coronavirus cases.

In a statement issued on Monday afternoon, the HA said it was increasing the number of specimen collection packs to be distributed in the Tai Po Jockey Club GOPC and Wong Siu Ching Family Medicine Centre until Wednesday.

Mobile specimen collection stations had been arranged in Tai Po for three consecutive days starting Monday so that residents could avail of free testing

Staff members will closely monitor the situation and coordinate the distribution of collection packs and collection of specimens, the HA said.

It also reminded healthcare workers of the general out-patient clinics and the accident and emergency departments to stay vigilant and to arrange virus tests for patients when necessary.

Mobile specimen collection stations had been arranged in Tai Po for three consecutive days starting Monday so that residents could avail of free testing.

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Hong Kong Molecular Pathology Diagnostic Centre Limited, the testing agency the government enlisted to conduct the free tests, set up mobile stations in three locations: the volleyball court next to Kwong Wai House of Kwong Fuk Estate; the open space outside Fu Shin Community Hall; and the open space between Pai Lau and the Pavilion of Wai Tau Tsuen.

Meanwhile, the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said in a statement that the six new imported cases included a 50-year-old man returning from Russia, a 38-year-old man from Kazakhstan, a 38-year-old man from the United Kingdom, a 47-year-old man from Saudi Arabia, a 47-year-old woman from the UK and a 44-year-old man from Indonesia. 

There were no new local cases on Monday while Hong Kong’s overall tally stood at 5,380, the CHP said.

S.K.H. Holy Spirit Primary School in Sha Tin said in a notice that a teacher of the school, the wife of a 50-year-old confirmed patient, tested preliminarily positive for the coronavirus.

The school campus would be closed for disinfection and all online classes would also be suspended on Monday and Tuesday, the school said.

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According to the Hospital Authority, a total of 92 confirmed patients were being treated in 20 public hospitals as of Monday, including seven patients in critical condition and four in serious condition.

Also on Monday, a 53-year-old woman was sentenced to immediate imprisonment for 14 days by the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts for violating her quarantine when she went to an office of the Immigration Department to handle issues relating to her identity card on Oct 6.

A total of 64 people had been convicted for breaching compulsory quarantine orders and received sentences including immediate imprisonment for up to three months or a fine of HK$15,000.

The Department of Health said the sentence sends a clear message to the community that breaching a compulsory quarantine order is a criminal offense that the government will not tolerate.