Hong Kong reports 33 new COVID-19 cases

HONG KONG, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong on Sunday reported 33 new cases of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, taking the total tally of confirmed cases to 12,935, data from the Center for Health Protection showed.

The newly reported cases consist of 27 imported cases, five epidemiologically linked with imported cases, and one possibly import-related case.

Thirty of the cases involved mutant strains, and mutation test results of two cases are pending. For the rest case, the viral load is insufficient for the mutation test. The patients comprise 17 males and 16 females, aged 11-month-old to 71.

Since Jan. 1, Hong Kong has recorded 149 asymptomatic cases, and a total of 321 COVID-19 cases have been reported in the past 14 days.

Meanwhile, the whole genome sequencing analysis of 25 cases announced earlier showed they all carried the Omicron variant of COVID-19, bringing the total number of Omicron infections to 265 in Hong Kong.

Since the launch of a mass inoculation program in February 2021, more than 5.01 million people, or 74.4 percent of the eligible population, have taken at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, while about 4.7 million, or 69.8 percent of the eligible population, have taken two doses.

Meanwhile, 522,487 people in Hong Kong have taken a booster shot as of Sunday.