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HONG KONG, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- With three more cases reported on Monday, the total number of confirmed cases of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Hong Kong has increased to 60.

The new cases involve a 69-year-old man, and the colleague and the wife of the 57th case reported on Sunday, the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said on Monday in a statement.

Preliminary epidemiological investigations showed some of the confirmed cases are locally infected, the CHP said, adding that relevant contract tracing is ongoing.

As there is evidence of community transmission of COVID-19, two scientific committees under the CHP said at a meeting on Monday that Hong Kong should continue to maintain the current strategy of isolating confirmed cases, quarantine of close contacts and medical surveillance of other contacts in order to stop ongoing spread and prevent the disease from taking root locally.

The committees also suggested the authorities expand the monitoring from inpatient to outpatient as some of the cases of COVID-19 only present with mild symptoms.