Hong Kong has confirmed 76 new cases of A/H1N1 flu infection in the 24 hours up to 2:30 pm on Monday, medical authorities said.

According to a spokesman of the Center for Health Protection, the new cases involve 36 males and 40 females, aged between one and 81.

This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 1,886 in Hong Kong, the spokesman said.

The city's Hospital Authority said in a release later in the day that currently a total of 41 confirmed patients are staying in public hospitals for treatment and five of them are in critical condition.

(Xinhua News Agency July 21, 2009)