A medical staff takes the temperature of a foreign domestic helper before she receives a free COVID-19 test at Henry G Leong Yau Ma Tei Community Center, Hong Kong on Dec 18, 2020. (PARKER ZHENG/CHINA DAILY)

HONG KONG - Hong Kong logged 109 new coronavirus infections on Saturday, including 102 local cases, of which 42 were untraceable — the most since the beginning of the fourth wave of the outbreak in mid-November.

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The cases of unknown origin involved people from all walks of life, including retirees, housewives and students, said Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection at a press briefing in the afternoon.

The cases of unknown origin involved people from all walks of life, including retirees, housewives and students, a health official said

The city’s total number of confirmed infections stood at 8,078. 

Local authorities were hunting a COVID-19 patient who had run away without permission while receiving treatment at Queen Elizabeth Hospital. 

The 63-year-old was admitted to the isolation ward of the hospital on Dec 14 after it was confirmed he had COVID-19, according to the Hospital Authority.

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Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Department of Health said the department had deployed additional manpower in the past 24 hours to speed up the transfer of close contacts of confirmed COVID-19 patients to designated quarantine centers. 

More than 480 close contacts have been sent to designated quarantine centers as of 3 pm Saturday.