Hong Kong reports 39 new COVID-19 cases

HONG KONG, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong on Tuesday reported 39 new cases of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, taking the total tally to 12,761, data from the Center for Health Protection showed.

The new cases consist of 36 imported cases and three cases epidemiologically linked with an imported case.

Thirty-four of the cases involved mutant strains while mutation test results of the remaining five cases are pending. The patients comprise 16 males and 23 females, aged 13 to 66.

Since Jan. 1, Hong Kong has recorded 71 asymptomatic cases, and a total of 188 COVID-19 cases have been reported in the past 14 days.

Meanwhile, the whole genome sequencing analysis of 12 cases announced earlier showed they all carried the Omicron variant of COVID-19, bringing the total number of Omicron infections to 114 in Hong Kong.

Since the launch of a mass inoculation program in February 2021, about 4.92 million people, or 73.2 percent of the eligible population, have taken at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, while about 4.68 million, or 69.5 percent of the eligible population, have taken two doses.

Meanwhile, a total of 437,750 people in Hong Kong had taken a booster shot as of Tuesday.