Hong Kong, Jul 13 (IANS): The Hong Kong government is expected to announce tightening of social-distancing measures on Monday, after the city reported 52 new COVID-19 cases.

The new cases have taken the total number of infections in the city to 1,521, with seven deaths.

The city's top epidemiologists have been split on how to contain the third wave of infections, and while some want a return of social-distancing rules to March levels as soon as possible, others doubt that would be sustainable in the long run, the South China Morning Post said in a report.

Signs of a third wave in Hong Kong first appeared last week, with growing clusters in both Kowloon East and Sha Tin, according to Centre for Health Protection data.

Between July 5 and 11, there were 211 confirmed cases including 143 local cases.

Forty five, or 31 per cent, could not have their sources traced, the data revealed.

Last week, the government reintroduced some social-distancing measures, including limiting the number of customers per table at restaurants to eight, and increased testing among workers in public transport, retail and care homes, the South China Morning Post reported.

That response was not as stringent as those rolled out in March, the previous peak for infections in the city, when the daily number of local cases hovered around 20 a day.

This was despite health officials calling the new wave of infections as the most severe.