Pedestrians wear face masks as a precautionary measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus as they walk across a road in Hong Kong on May 13, 2020. (ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP)

HONG KONG - Hong Kong reported 24 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, with 19 of them being local infections, stoking worries of a renewed community spread in the city after it reported mostly imported cases for months.

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The new cases, involving patients aged between 31 and 92, brought the city's infection tally to 1,323.

The sources of infection of the five local cases are not clear yet, said Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Center for Health Protection's Communicable Disease Branch

The CHP's epidemiological investigations show that six of the 19 local cases are related to two restaurants where outbreak clusters have been found, Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Center for Health Protection's Communicable Disease Branch, said at a media briefing on Wednesday afternoon.

Eight of the local cases are related to a residential care home for the elderly, involving four elderly residents and four staff members.

The sources of infection of the remaining five local cases are not clear yet, Chuang said.

Hong Kong has seen additional local COVID-19 cases for four consecutive days since Sunday.

Many of the new cases are with unknown sources of infection, which shows that the situation in Hong Kong is becoming increasingly serious, Chuang noted.

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Sara Ho, a chief manager of Hong Kong's Hospital Authority, said at the briefing that as of Wednesday noon, 1,167 patients with confirmed or probable infection have been discharged from hospitals, while 138 confirmed patients remained hospitalized, including one in critical condition and one in serious condition.