Among the new cases, 127 were confirmed PCR tests, and 202 were positive rapid antigen test results reported by citizens. The Centre for Health Protection’s principal medical and health officer Albert Au Ka-wing said the tally of the fifth wave of the pandemic now exceeded 1.196 million.

The city recorded another case that carried the Omicron BA.4 variant, involving a 29-year-old woman who arrived from the United Kingdom on May 8. She was one of the imported cases earlier and tested positive on the fifth day of quarantine.

Hong Kong has so far had eight Omicron BA.4 cases, all of which were imported from overseas.

Au also added 31 imported cases traveling from the UK, the US, Canada, and Japan, 10 of which were detected at the airport. Nineteen patients were identified at designated quarantine hotels.

The other two imported cases tested positive on the twelfth day upon arrival and were classified as re-positive cases. These involved a 36-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman arriving on May 5 from the UK.

The Imperial Kitchen cluster in Kwun Tong added six more infections. The cluster has recorded 26 cases involving 25 diners and one staffer so far. Among them, seven reported mild symptoms, four were undergoing investigations, and the remaining were asymptomatic.

Au said that some patients have said earlier that they have stayed at the premise for a short while but did not eat nor take off their masks. However, there were new cases today said to have eaten there.

The authorities suspected that someone had disclosed false information and said they would find out the actual activities of the patients concerned. He added that the premises was not a restaurant but private premises, and the situation has been referred to the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department for further investigations.

Au stressed that the priority was given to controlling the outbreak and that those present needed to be tested first but said he would continue to monitor the situation and follow up on whether there was evidence of false statements.

At the same time, another three infections were found related to TamJai Yunnan Mixian in Tung Chung. The authorities have taken 16 samples from the restaurant, all of which tested negative.

Sky Cuisine restaurant in Sheung Wan saw another six related cases - five customers and one staffer, taking the cluster’s total to 70. Meanwhile, the authorities found that the gene sequencing of cases from the cluster showed high similarities with Sai Wan Estate infections.

Sun Mong Club cluster in Hung Hom also added one more case involving a 17-year-old male customer who tested positive on May 15. The cluster has so far recorded 16 infections, involving 14 customers and two staffers.

Hospital Authority’s chief manager for quality and standards, Lau Ka-hin, reported four more death, pushing the city’s death tally to 9,152. The deceased patients involved three men and a woman aged 64 to 90.

Lau noted that public hospitals and treatment facilities are now housing 641 patients. Among them, 11 were in serious condition, 13 were in serious condition, and three in critical condition have been admitted to a hospital’s intensive care unit.