Hong Kong reports 19 new COVID-19 cases, 6 additional Omicron infections

HONG KONG, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection (CHP) on Friday reported 19 new imported cases of COVID-19, taking the total tally of confirmed cases to 12,649.

The newly reported cases consist of 17 imported cases and two import-related cases. All of the cases involve mutant strains.

A total of 124 cases have been reported in the past 14 days, according to the CHP.

Meanwhile, the whole genome sequencing analysis of six cases announced earlier confirmed they all carried the Omicron variant of COVID-19, bringing the total number of Omicron infections to 87 in Hong Kong.

Since the launch of the government inoculation program in late February, about 4.88 million people or 72.4 percent of the eligible population have taken at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccines, while about 4.66 million or 69.2 percent of the eligible population have taken two doses.

Meanwhile, a total of 387,007 people had taken the booster shot in Hong Kong as of 7:00 p.m. local time Friday.