With the total number of infections in the city standing still at 1,025, the Department of Health and Hospital Authority cancelled its daily media briefing for the first time since it began providing daily updates since late January.

Queen Mary Hospital, however, confirmed on Monday evening that a recovered 17-year-old man was found to have “traces of the virus that are not infectious” in preliminary testing. The medical team suspected that the patient, who is currently in hospital, was not reinfected. Further tests would be done to ascertain his condition.

Hong Kong recorded its first case on January 23, and the last time the city detected no new infections was March 5. Daily infection numbers surged after that as overseas residents rushed back from Britain, the United States and Europe, bringing the coronavirus home with them.

Using a combination of social distancing and quarantine measures, the city has whittled down daily infections to single digits for more than a week.

In contrast, Singapore reported 1,426 new cases on Monday, pushing its total to more than 8,000. Most of the new cases were foreign workers living in dormitories, according to the city state’s health ministry.

The Hong Kong government announced that starting from Wednesday, the Regal Oriental Hotel in Kowloon City would take in asymptomatic airport arrivals in the afternoon or evening, after they submit their deep-throat samples for testing. They will stay till the next morning until their test results are in.

Those arriving in the morning would have to wait for results at the AsiaWorld-Expo testing centre near the airport itself, and those who showed symptoms would continue to be sent to public hospitals for testing under existing arrangements.

Those self-isolating at the hotel would be given electronic wristbands and confined to their rooms, the government said, reminding offenders they were liable for a maximum fine of HK$25,000 (US$3,225) and six months behind bars.

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Those testing positive for the virus would be admitted to hospitals, their close contacts sent to other quarantine centres, and their rooms disinfected. Others would be sent home to complete their 14-day quarantine period.

Public health experts welcomed the strategy, with microbiologist Dr Ho Pak-leung calling it a “win-win arrangement”.

“Infected persons who have not shown any symptoms still won’t be going home with the virus … air travellers can also take some rest,” he said.

Ho suggested it would be even better if returnees who tested negative for the coronavirus served out the rest of their 14-day quarantine in their hotels to prevent any possible spread of the virus later.

Dr Leung Chi-chiu, chairman of the Hong Kong Medical Association’s advisory committee on communicable diseases, also backed the plan, citing similar success in Macau and mainland China.

“In theory, hotels are a safe place for quarantine, as the ventilation system would suck air from each toilet and room directly to outside the building. But in any case, Covid-19 is mostly transmitted through droplets and therefore will not pose great risks to hotel residents,” he said.

“It is also the lesser of two evils as letting those returnees go home may risk infecting their family members and the wider community.”

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Regal Oriental Hotel guests said they were given short notice on Sunday night about the quarantine plan and had to scramble to leave the next day.

“We were offered either to move to another hotel under the same group or cancel the contract,” said Ken Choi Shik-chung, who was booked to stay for a few months.

Another guest who left in the afternoon said he had been staying in the hotel since mid-February as his home was being renovated.

“I was only notified I had to leave by noon when the receptionist came to take my temperature this morning, but I still had to go to work so I am only coming now to collect my things,” he said, adding that he supported the government’s decision overall.

A spokeswoman for the Regal Oriental Hotel confirmed the government had requisitioned its more than 400 rooms for quarantine purposes, but had few details.

A hotel worker, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the government would pay the wages of staff affected.

Another worker said others had been sacked or made to go on unpaid leave because of the economic downturn, and those still at the hotel were worried about the risk of infection. She said they were not given full protective equipment, as they were told they would not come into direct contact with the new guests, and only had to place meals outside their rooms.

However, some politicians and union representatives strongly objected to the hotel quarantine arrangements.

“The distance between the hotel and housing blocks is just several metres. We hope the government can clarify why it decided to pick this hotel,” said lawmaker Helena Wong Pik-wan of the opposition Democratic Party.

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Kowloon City district councillor Lee Hin-long, complained about a lack of consultation. “This hotel is right in the middle of Kowloon where it is crowded, and many elderly live here. The government should have first discussed it with us,” he said.

Alex Tsui, chairman of the Hong Kong Hotel Employees Union, also voiced concerns.

“Front desk and rooms service workers must be given adequate personal protective equipment including masks and gowns,” he said.

“The government should also include Covid-19 as an occupational disease to protect workers from possible work-related infections.”

Additional reporting by Lilian Cheng and Elizabeth Cheung