Passengers wearing face masks, who were stranded on the novel coronavirus-infected Diamond Princess ship in Japan, are taking a special bus en route to a quarantine center in the New Territories in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Thursday. The HKSAR government has arranged chartered flights to bring back 106 Hong Kong passengers onboard the ship. Photo: Xinhua

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong has increased to 100 as of 8:00 p.m. local time Monday, Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection (CHP) reported on Monday night.

The CHP said it is investigating one additional confirmed case of COVID-19, and has updated one of the two probable cases announced on Sunday as a confirmed case, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong to 100 confirmed cases and one probable case.

The new case confirmed on Monday involves a 63-year-old male who is the elder brother of the patient of a case confirmed on Feb. 25.

The patient, with underlying illness, is asymptomatic and has earlier been sent to the quarantine center as a close contact. His deep throat saliva specimen tested positive for COVID-19 virus.

He will be sent to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital for treatment and is now in a stable condition.

The patient had no travel history during the incubation period. He attended on Feb. 22 his daughter's wedding banquet, where the female patient of the 85th case was also present.

A spokesman for the CHP said that according to preliminary epidemiological investigations, cluster outbreaks are observed in local community involving large meal gatherings and other gatherings.

"Members of the public are urged to go out less and reduce social activities such as meals gatherings or other gatherings, and maintain appropriate social distance with other people as far as possible," said the spokesman.