Hong Kong reports 9th case of Omicron COVID-19 variant

HONG KONG, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection (CHP) confirmed one additional case of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 on Wednesday.

In an update on the latest investigations on an imported case announced on Tuesday, the CHP said the Omicron case involved a 21-year-old female patient who arrived in Hong Kong from the United States on Dec. 12.

So far, nine cases involving Omicron have been detected in Hong Kong. They were all detected at the Hong Kong International Airport restricted area, at a designated quarantine facility or at a designated quarantine hotel, and there has not been any spread in the community, according to the CHP.

The CHP also reported one additional imported case of COVID-19 on Wednesday, taking the total tally of confirmed cases in the financial hub to 12,496.

A total of 59 cases have been reported in the past 14 days and all were imported, according to the CHP.

Since the launch of the government inoculation program in late February, around 4.81 million people, or 71.5 percent of the eligible population, have taken at least one shot of the vaccine, while around 4.58 million, or 68.1 percent, are fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile, a total of 273,854 people have taken the booster shot in Hong Kong as of 7:00 p.m. local time Tuesday.