Health officials reported 251 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday and the deaths of two more coronavirus patients.

Thirty-six of the new infections were classified as imported cases.

The two patients who died were elderly care home residents aged 67 and 87.

The death toll in the fifth wave of infections now stands at 9,161.

The Centre for Health Protection also said it is investigating whether four locally infected patients are carrying the BA.2.12.1 subvariant.

"We're still at the stage of preliminary investigation, but we're worried that these four cases may have been caused by new variants," said Albert Au from the centre.

He said three of the patients are from the same family who live in Kowloon City.

Au added that the authorities are waiting for the results of DNA analysis and are investigating whether these infections are linked to a McDonald's restaurant cluster.
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