Hong Kong reports 24 new cases of COVID-19

Hong Kong on Monday reported 24 new cases of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, taking the total tally of confirmed cases to 12,959, data from the Center for Health Protection showed.

The newly reported cases consist of 19 imported cases, four epidemiologically linked with imported cases, and one possibly import-related case.

Nineteen of the cases involved mutant strains, mutation test results of two cases are pending, and the viral loads of the remaining three cases are insufficient for mutation tests. The patients comprise eight males and 16 females, aged 20 to 88.

Since January 1, Hong Kong has recorded 167 asymptomatic cases, and a total of 345 COVID-19 cases have been reported in the past 14 days.

Meanwhile, the whole genome sequencing analysis of 14 cases announced earlier showed they all carried the Omicron variant of COVID-19, bringing the total number of Omicron infections to 279 in Hong Kong.

Since the launch of a mass inoculation program in February 2021, more than 5.03 million people, or 74.7 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, 543,864 people in Hong Kong have taken a booster shot as of Monday.