HONG KONG, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Chief Secretary for Administration of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government Matthew Cheung said on Sunday that the HKSAR government will step up its efforts to trace close contacts of confirmed COVID-19 cases.

Cheung said in his blog that although the pandemic has shown a sign of easing recently, the public should stay vigilant as it might rebound. The HKSAR government has been striving to achieve zero COVID-19 infection at an early date.

Cheung said the government has put in more manpower to strengthen the tracking of close contacts of confirmed cases so as to improve the tracking efficiency.

A case tracing center has been set up in a community hall in Kai Tak, Kowloon, which will be open next Monday. Personnel from the disciplinary forces of the HKSAR government will help with the tracing work, in order to carry out the tracing more professionally, scientifically and quickly to cut off the virus transmission chain, he said.

Cheung said the HKSAR government has also been actively using innovative technologies to support epidemic prevention. As the COVID-19 vaccine will soon be available in Hong Kong, the HKSAR government will set up an online vaccination program booking system this month to facilitate the public to book vaccination.

Cheung said although the pandemic has brought many challenges to Hong Kong's business environment, the development of innovation and technology was still vibrant. The HKSAR government has taken various measures to seize the opportunities brought about by technological development and actively nurtured and recruited scientific and technological talents.

He also said Hong Kong can achieve greater heights with the strong support of the country and by embracing the opportunity brought by the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Great Bay Area.