Another 16 patients died, including the 11-month-old baby, taking the death toll to 321. Earlier this month, a four-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl who had no underlying medical conditions succumbed to Covid-19.

Health authorities said the baby girl had “good past health” but some family members, including her parents and grandmother, tested positive on rapid antigen kits.

“The case was referred to the coroner for further investigation, as the patient was just admitted for one to two days. We cannot identify the cause of death at this moment,” said Dr Lau Ka-hin, a chief manager at the Hospital Authority.

On the vaccine pass that takes effect on Thursday, officials on Monday spelled out how premises would be split into two types – those that required active or passive checking of inoculation records.

Choi said some venues, such as restaurants and clubhouses, were deemed higher risk. Therefore, actively checking vaccination details – requiring people to scan a QR code to enter – would boost compliance and leave a record of patrons for contact-tracing efforts.

He said venues such as shopping malls, supermarkets and wet markets would only be subject to passive checking, where visitors would need to provide vaccination records only when asked by enforcement agents.

The approach to conduct such random checks was due to operational difficulties in ensuring every visitor could be screened, Choi said.

“Passive checking … will be more like carrying an HKID card with you. The downside is of course our tracking capability will be a little bit hampered,” he conceded.

“Perhaps we do need to consider active checking later on. But as of now, we believe that passive checking for these premises would be the right way.”

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Those staying in hotels and guest houses are not required to show their vaccination records. But patrons who visit a restaurant inside a hotel will need to scan a QR code to enter.

The vaccine pass will require people to have their inoculation records with them to enter government venues and 23 other types of premises, including restaurants, shopping centres, wet markets and supermarkets.

The scheme will later be extended to schools, public hospitals, government offices and those of public organisations, and care homes for the elderly and disabled.

Exemptions will be available in certain instances, including for people entering a venue just to buy takeaway or retrieve belongings, to get tested or vaccinated, or to attend government, legal or medical appointments. Employees who work in venues subject to the requirement, such as shopping centres, will not be exempted.

Asked about penalties for using another person’s vaccination record, authorities said such individuals would be liable for the offence of using a false document, but added that prosecution would depend on the specific situation.

“Dishonest use of other people’s vaccination records carries legal responsibility,” said Diane Wong Shuk-han, deputy director of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department.

The requirements for the pass will be tightened in three stages, from a single jab initially, to two doses for adults and one for 12- to 17-year-olds by the end of April.

In the final stage, from the end of June, all adults who were inoculated more than nine months ago will need to get a booster shot, while 12- to 17-year-olds will have to receive a second dose six months after the first.

Authorities said they would not rule out lowering the age threshold for the vaccine pass in the future, depending on the virus situation and the inoculation rate among children.

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All the venues that were required to suspend operations under the current social-distancing rules would remain closed even after the vaccine pass took effect, the source said.

On privacy protection, Tony Wong Chi-kwong, deputy government chief information officer, said the vaccine information stored in users’ mobile apps was encrypted and automatically erased after 31 days.

“Personal information such as names and ID numbers are masked,” Wong said, explaining that operators were not able to access the data, and that authorities would only request them to unlock the app through a one-time password and send the encrypted details to a central database for contact-tracing if necessary.

On how long the vaccine pass would be in place, Choi said it would remain in effect “as long as it is necessary to combat Covid”.

The pass scheme kicks in on Thursday, a day after the existing social-distancing measures are set to expire. According to a source familiar with the situation, the new rules for restaurants would also set in on the same day.

The new rule was expected to last longer than the usual two weeks, the source said, but authorities were not planning to limit the opening hours of restaurants and shopping malls at this stage.

On February 10, the government imposed the toughest set of social-distancing rules since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in a bid to contain a surging fifth wave of infections. The rules included ordering the temporary closure of many types of venues and limiting the number of people allowed to gather in public places to two.

The measures also capped at two the number of diners per table in many establishments, though so-called Type D restaurants, where all staff are fully vaccinated and patrons must have received at least one jab, were allowed to seat groups of up to four – a privilege that will no longer apply after Thursday.

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Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee had warned on Sunday that certain social-distancing measures could be further tightened.

Meanwhile, more than 30,000 people who have tested positive for the coronavirus are still waiting to be moved into isolation facilities. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor earlier said the government had identified about 20,000 new isolation units for that purpose.

The Hospital Authority said it planned to transfer non-Covid-19 patients undergoing rehabilitation and services such as radiotherapy and dialysis to private hospitals in a bid to ease the pressure on public facilities.

Lau said details of the plan were still under discussion, with the launch expected within the next two or three days.