Hong Kong reports 9 new imported COVID-19 cases, 14 additional Omicron infections

HONG KONG, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection (CHP) on Monday reported 9 new imported cases of COVID-19, taking the total tally of confirmed cases to 12,598.

The newly reported cases involved mutant strains and were five males and four females, aged 19 to 59.

A total of 101 cases have been reported in the past 14 days. One of them is an import-related case, while the rest are imported cases, according to the CHP.

Meanwhile, the whole genome sequencing analysis of 14 cases announced earlier confirmed they all carried the Omicron variant of COVID-19, bringing the total number of Omicron infections to 58 in Hong Kong.

Since the launch of the government inoculation program in late February, about 4.86 million people or 72.1 percent of the eligible population have taken at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccines, while about 4.64 million or 68.8 percent of the eligible population have taken two doses.

Meanwhile, a total of 350,718 people had taken the booster shot in Hong Kong as of 7:00 p.m. local time Sunday.