Hong Kong reports 5 new imported COVID-19 cases

HONG KONG, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection (CHP) reported five new imported cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, taking the total tally to 12,471.

Four of the cases involved mutant strains while the mutation test result of the remaining case is pending. The patients comprise three males and two females, aged 28 to 62.

A total of 62 cases have been reported in the past 14 days and all were imported, according to the CHP.

Since the launch of the government inoculation program in late February, over 4.78 million people, or 71.1 percent of the eligible population, have taken at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccines, while over 4.56 million, or 67.7 percent, are fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile, a total of 215,858 people have taken the booster shot in Hong Kong as of 7:00 p.m. local time Monday.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government expects the third-dose vaccination to cover 1.86 million people.