Lam also said civil servants who do not provide emergency and essential services will start to work from home for a week since Monday. She advised schools to avoid group gatherings of students and adopt safe approaches to inform students of their exam scores.

Hong Kong has witnessed a resurgence of COVID-19 cases over the past weeks as the daily new cases have reached new highs for multiple times.

There were 519 confirmed cases over the past two weeks ending 4:00 p.m. local time Saturday, with 411 local infections, Lam noted, adding that the deaths rose to 12.

Hong Kong's Hospital Authority said 463 COVID-19 patients were in hospital, with 19 in critical condition.

As the surging infections strained medical sources including hospital beds and quarantine facilities, Lam said the government will renovate a holiday inn and an exhibition venue near Hong Kong International Airport to offer more units for asymptomatic and stable patients.

Hong Kong will also build 2,000 more quarantine units in Penny's Bay area with the goal of completing the construction by the end of the year. The new units will serve as long-term quarantine facilities in preparation for the possible next wave of the pandemic.

The worsening epidemic situation was partly attributed to so-called "primaries" held by opposition camps for the Legislative Council election and massive illegal assemblies, which led to disorderly public gatherings and created a huge loophole in anti-disease efforts.

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