HONG KONG (BLOOMBERG) - Hong Kong doesn't plan to resume sending everyone who tests positive for Covid-19 and their close contacts to government-run isolation centres even when the city's outbreak dwindles, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said.

The once vibrant financial hub gave up on mandatory isolation and quarantine for everyone at city facilities at the beginning of the current outbreak, as case counts rose so high that there wasn't enough room to accommodate everyone.

The facilities, such as Penny's Bay, quickly became notorious as they became overrun.

Hong Kong, with the help of the Chinese government, began the mass construction of new facilities and reconfiguring existing venues like the Asia World Expo to house those who couldn't safely stay home without risking themselves or others.

Those with large enough residences who weren't at high-risk of complications were allowed to isolate at home after they were infected or came into close contact with an existing patient.

There are no plans to change the existing process used to identify those who can isolate at home, Mrs Lam said during her daily Covid briefing.

"We think this is a very rational approach," she said. "There is no intention to change it again because this will cause uncertainty and confusion to the people of Hong Kong."

The government announced that it plans to return several apartment buildings that it had taken to use for isolation purposes now that the city's outbreak is tapering off.

There were 1,433 new infections reported on Tuesday (April 12), down from a daily high of more than 50,000 in mid-March.

The number of daily infections must fall significantly for the city to resume strict contact tracing and quarantine measures, Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the Department of Health's communicable disease branch, said during a Tuesday briefing.

When there were more than 100 new cases daily, it was quite difficult to do contact tracing and provide the necessary isolation facilities, she said.