Under other amendments, those responsible for vulnerable individuals, including children and the mentally incapacitated, will be required to try their best to ensure that their charges comply with compulsory testing notices, directions or orders. Otherwise they face a maximum fine of HK$25,000 and six months’ imprisonment.

Security chief Chris Tang Ping-keung earlier this month warned that isolation orders came with legal power and that people risked legal consequences if they chose not to follow them.

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Those who do not comply with compulsory testing orders, notices and directions also risk a maximum fine of HK$25,000 and six months’ jail.

Additionally, the chief executive in council gave its approval for the government to extend the expiry dates of eight emergency regulations by six months to September 30 this year, including those on compulsory quarantine for arrivals and disclosure of information related to disease control and prevention.

Data from the University of Hong Kong, meanwhile, on the real-time “effective reproductive number” for Covid-19 cases, which shows how many people are likely to be infected by one person, revealed the number had increased 26.8 per cent from 0.37 on March 17 – the lowest recorded in the city’s fifth wave of infections – to 0.4691 on March 22.

An R value of one means that on average, every person who has contracted the virus will infect one other person. The R value will increase when the number of contacts between people grows, leading to a rise in viral transmission.

Health officials said the number of confirmed Covid-19 infections peaked in early March, after Hong Kong implemented the toughest social-distancing measures since the fifth wave began in late December, including a ban on gatherings of more than two households in private places and the closure of most public venues, but foot traffic started to rise as the daily caseload began to plateau.

Of the latest infections on Tuesday, only two were imported while the rest were locally transmitted.

The Hospital Authority reported 129 Covid-19 deaths in the past 24 hours, and an additional 20 that occurred earlier but were only just recorded due to backlog. Two elderly patients also died at the CUHK Medical Centre, a private hospital taking in Covid-19 patients with mild symptoms.

The city’s tally of confirmed cases stands at 1,143,788, with the related death toll at 7,571.

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While the city’s daily number of cases had gradually dropped, government pandemic adviser Professor David Hui Shu-cheong noted the figure remained high.

“[The daily figure of] about 7,000 to 8,000 is still at a high level. What we are worried most about now is there will be the Ching Ming Festival and Easter holidays [in April]. If there are more public gatherings, we are worried there will be a rebound [in infections],” Hui said.

Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan of the Centre for Health Protection said there was a downtrend in the overall caseload, but the speed in which the numbers would fall was hard to predict.

“Although the daily caseload seems to have dropped since the peak, the number still remains at a high level. If you look at the historical figures, since the pandemic began two years ago, 7,000 cases each day is still very high,” she said.

“If foot traffic increases then there is a chance of a rebound. We hope the public will try to avoid crowded places, particularly over the holidays, and pay attention to personal hygiene.”

On Saturday, hundreds of residents queued up for hours hoping to get their hands on new designer watches from a highly prized collection jointly designed by two Swiss firms.

Taxi Owners’ Association chairman Wong Po-keung said ridership had started to pick up over the weekend, and more people were going out to pay respects to their ancestors before the Ching Ming Festival next week.

“After the fifth wave began, we’d only make about HK$400 to HK$500 in fares each shift. But in the past few days our earnings went up to around HK$900. This compares with HK$1,100 to HK$1,200 before the fifth wave,” Wong said.

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“This wave has been really difficult for us, basically we have had no income. When infections were peaking, the streets were pretty much empty. It was even worse for those on the night shift, particularly after 6pm. There were essentially no riders after 8pm.”

Kowloon Mosque on Tuesday said a maximum of 500 people would be allowed into each worship session to reduce gatherings when it reopened after the expected easing of social-distancing rules on April 21.

It said Ramadan, the Muslim holy month, would begin on April 1 and that based on previous years, more than 4,000 worshippers would be expected to visit the mosque during peak hours.

Services cannot be conducted in the form of live broadcasts because of Islamic traditions, according to the mosque.

The mosque has called on the faithful to perform ablutions at home before worship and has drawn lines in its halls to ensure social distancing.

Additional reporting by Elizabeth Cheung