Visitors wearing face masks walk on a street in Tai O on Lantau Island, Hong Kong, Dec 27, 2020. (LUI SIU WAI / XINHUA)

HONG KONG - Hong Kong reported 61 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, including 60 transmitted locally, bringing the city’s tally to 8,671.

Two more persons succumbed to the disease in the early hours of Monday, pushing up the city's toll to 139, according to a Hospital Authority statement

Four more patients succumbed to the disease on Monday, according to the Hospital Authority, pushing up the city’s number of coronavirus-related deaths to 141.

A 74-year-old woman and a 73-year-old man passed away in the early hours of Monday. The woman, who was terminally ill, passed away at United Christian Hospital where she was admitted on Dec 16. The man, who was chronically ill, was admitted to Caritas Medical Centre on Nov 24. An 85-year-old woman died at Yan Chai Hospital in the afternoon while a 70-year-old man passed away at Tuen Mun Hospital in the evening. Both had chronic illnesses, according to two releases issued by the Hospital Authority. 

Of Monday’s fresh infections, 19 were untraceable, Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Centre for Health Protection’s communicable disease branch, told reporters. The figure dipped slightly from 23 recorded a day earlier. 

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At least 40 people tested preliminarily positive for the virus on Monday, Chuang said, including a resident of Lek Yuen Estate Wing Shui House in Sha Tin. Residents of the block, which has reported at least seven infections, will be subject to mandatory testing if the case is confirmed.

A Vietnamese illegal immigrant, who was being held at Ma Tau Kok Immigration Detention Centre, was confirmed as infected, Chuang said. Six other detainees confined with the infected person have been sent to quarantine centers.

The Hospital Authority said 916 COVID-19 patients are being treated in public hospitals and the community treatment facility at AsiaWorld-Expo, including 51 in critical condition.  

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Also on Monday, a new mobile specimen collection station was set up at the Sau Nga Road Playground in Kwun Tong, as health authorities responded to at least 17 cases, believed to be triggered by a super spreader, at United Christian Hospital.

Free testing will be available there for staff and patients as well as visitors to the hospital until Dec 31.