HONG KONG, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong has seen continued abating of the third wave of COVID-19 outbreak, with six new infections reported on Monday.

Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection (CHP) said in a statement that two cases were locally infected and the other four had a travel history during the incubation period.

Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the CHP's Communicable Disease Branch, said several samples taken from the lab at the University of Hong Kong's school of public health were found to contain the virus after one of its employees tested positive.

Over 300 swabs taken from the employees who had been to the lab floor all showed negative for the virus, Chuang said.

According to Hong Kong's Hospital Authority, 185 patients are still hospitalized, including 13 in critical condition. The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong has totaled 5,038.