HONG KONG (XINHUA) - The existing social distancing measures due to expire on Thursday (Nov 12) will be extended for another seven days in view of the latest Covid-19 situation in Hong Kong.

Mr Matthew Cheung, acting Hong Kong chief executive, said on Tuesday that over the past week there were still untraceable new cases reported and the trend of local cases has been growing.

He urged the public to stay vigilant to prevent the epidemic from rebounding.

The social distancing measures included mandatory mask-wearing in public places, group gatherings of no more than four persons. Catering businesses, entertainment premises and sports venues should operate upon meeting the epidemic prevention requirements.

Mr Cheung said that within this month, three measures will soon be taken, including the launch of a contact tracing mobile app called "Leave Home Safe" for Hong Kong residents to keep track of places they visited. This will enable the local health authorities to track contacts of Covid-19 confirmed cases more effectively.

The other two include allowing Hong Kong residents who meet certain conditions to be exempted from the 14-day mandatory quarantine on their return from Guangdong province or Macau, and implementing the bilateral air travel bubble with Singapore.

According to Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection, as of Monday, the total number of Covid-19 cases in Hong Kong is 5,380 and the number of deaths is 107.