Hong Kong on Saturday reported a slight uptick in new COVID-19 cases, with the 13 latest infections pushing the total tally past 5,000.

Of the new cases, four were locally transmitted and nine were from overseas. Three out of the four local infections could not be traced. The total caseload now stands at 5,009, with 103 related deaths.

Among the cases with untraceable sources, one was a 28-year-old University of Hong Kong researcher, according to Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the communicable disease branch at the government’s Centre for Health Protection.

Chuang said the researcher had dealt with inactivated samples of the virus which did not have a capability to infect humans and that she had mostly used a computer for her work. A colleague who used the same computer tested negative for the virus. No evidence showed the researcher contracted the virus at work, Chuang said.

Another new case involved a 79-year-old woman who lived in Tuen Mun. She developed a fever on Sept. 11 and received visits from family members while she stayed at home between Sept. 12 and 15. During the incubation period, the woman walked around a shopping mall in Tuen Mun and had breakfast at the local Café de Coral outlet several times.

The third case was a 23-year-old domestic worker living with her employer in Ma On Shan. The Indonesian woman hung out with friends in Mong Kok, Sham Shui Po and Tsim Sha Tsui on Sept. 14. She was not able to remember the exact locations of the places she visited, Chuang said.

Hong Kong has been recuperating from the third wave of the outbreak, which began in early July. New COVID-19 cases have shown a downward trajectory recently, with the number of daily infections dropping to single digits this week, including three infections reported on Friday.

Hongkongers have begun to venture out around the city since the government relaxed social distancing restrictions last week that allowed up to four people to dine in at restaurants and reopened cinemas and gyms.

One woman said on Saturday that she spent more than HK$3,000 on handbags at Harbour City, a shopping mall in the prime retail area of Tsim Sha Tsui.

“Since the number of infections had dropped, I decided it would be nice to walk around and buy stuff because there were ongoing discounts,” she said, adding that she was on a solo shopping trip without her young children in tow.

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