Hong Kong reports 18 new COVID-19 cases

HONG KONG, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong on Tuesday recorded 18 new cases of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, taking the total tally to 13,066, according to data from the Center for Health Protection.

The newly reported cases consist of seven imported cases, 10 cases epidemiologically linked with imported cases, and one case epidemiologically linked with a local case.

Sixteen of the cases involve mutant strains, while the mutation test results of the remaining two cases are pending, the center said.

Meanwhile, the whole genome sequencing analysis of 26 cases announced earlier showed they all carried the Omicron variant of COVID-19, bringing the total number of Omicron infections to 479 in Hong Kong.

Since the launch of a mass inoculation program in February 2021, more than 5.15 million people, or 76.5 percent of the eligible population, have taken at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, while about 4.73 million, or 70.2 percent of the eligible population, have taken two doses.

Meanwhile, 676,891 people in Hong Kong have taken a booster shot as of 8:00 p.m. local time (1200 GMT) Monday.