Just three of Hong Kong’s 12 new Covid-19 cases were locally transmitted infections, officials said on Friday, as they announced that a fifth of Hong Kong’s population had signed up for the government’s mass coronavirus testing programme. A group of five domestic helpers who arrived from the Philippines on the same flight were among the nine imported infections. Although the city’s third wave of coronavirus infections was easing, the government would give Hongkongers one more washable mask, the Innovation and Technology Bureau said on Friday. Officials earlier said the mask would be given for a potential fourth wave in the coming winter. Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the communicable disease branch of the Centre for Health Protection, said the five helpers arrived on flight HX782, which landed on Wednesday. “They were related to the same agent when coming to Hong Kong. There were in total 13 of them,” Chuang said, adding that one had also tested preliminary positive. “The others have been sent to quarantine centres.” She said most of the domestic helpers lived together in a hostel provided by their agency in Manila. “There might be some transmission in the hostel, causing them to be detected [with Covid-19] on arrival in Hong Kong,” Chuang said. Two of the local cases were identified by the mass testing programme and did not have clear sources of infection. They involved a 71-year-old housewife in Tseung Kwan O and a 56-year-old worker from Victoria Harbour Restaurant at the Metropark Hotel in Mong Kok, where a cluster of Covid-19 cases had been reported earlier. Five people were recently confirmed to be infected at the Metropark, while a cluster of 15 cases was earlier recorded at the hotel’s restaurant. Chuang said the restaurant’s management had encouraged workers to join the mass testing programme, and health authorities were working out how many deep-throat saliva specimen bottles would need to be distributed to test about 70 staff at the restaurant. The remaining local case was a five-year-old boy who was reported to be preliminary positive on Thursday, when his mother was confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus. Meanwhile, some 7,000 prison inmates who underwent Covid-19 testing since Monday were all found to be negative, the Correctional Services Department said on Friday. Five detainees who refused to provide specimens were separated from other inmates in view of possible hidden transmission chains. Collection of staff specimens was expected to be completed this week, the department added. Health officials had said inmates would be tested after two detainees were among new infections on Sunday. So far, 23 confirmed cases have been identified through the mass testing scheme, while the total number of recorded infections in the city stands at 4,925, with 99 related deaths. The latest figures came as the government further relaxed social-distancing rules on Friday, including allowing four people to meet in public and eat together in restaurants. People flocked to ice rinks, game centres and restaurants. Indoor and outdoor sport facilities run by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department also began resuming operations in phases. But venues such as bars, karaoke premises and swimming pools remained closed. A government source said bars and pubs would possibly be reopened next Friday if infections continued to drop. For distribution of a second reusable adult CuMask+, those who had registered their addresses for receiving the first mask in May and June would get it by mail. Those who did not register for mail delivery could go to designated locations to collect the washable mask, starting from early next month. Further details would be announced later. Getting tested for Covid-19 in Hong Kong? Here’s what you need to know As of Friday evening, more than 1.6 million people, or around a fifth of the city’s 7.5 million residents, had taken part in the mass testing programme, of which more than 300,000 were walk-ins. Secretary for the Civil Service Patrick Nip Tak-kuen, who is responsible for coordinating the programme, said the government had not set a target for the number of participants in the scheme. But he called the 1.53 million figure as of Friday morning “good news” and said he thought some people had changed their minds after the tests began. “I think compared to the first day when it started, or even before the programme began, when there were lots of negative [thoughts], doubts and suspicions over the scheme, we can see people’s reactions have somehow changed,” Nip told a morning radio programme. Earlier this week, the government decided to extend the testing for three more days , until Monday, at 57 sample collection centres. Additional reporting by Chan Ho-him