Hong Kong reports 120 new COVID-19 cases

HONG KONG, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong reported 120 new cases of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours on Saturday, according to data from the Center for Health Protection.

One case was deleted as it was considered as indeterminate after examining the clinical condition and multiple negative test results after admission to hospital, taking the total tally of cases tested positive in Hong Kong to 14,024 so far.

The newly reported cases consist of 36 imported cases, 36 cases epidemiologically linked with imported cases, two possibly import-related cases, 12 local cases, 32 cases epidemiologically linked with local cases, and two cases yet to be determined.

The center said 101 of the cases involve mutant strains, the mutation test results of 15 cases are pending and the viral load of the remaining four cases are insufficient for mutation tests.

Meanwhile, the whole genome sequencing analysis of 21 cases announced earlier confirmed they all carried the Omicron variant of COVID-19, bringing the total number of Omicron infections to 736 in Hong Kong.

Since the launch of a mass inoculation program in February 2021, about 5.34 million people, or 79.2 percent of the eligible population in Hong Kong, have taken at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, while about 4.8 million, or 71.3 percent of the eligible population, have taken two doses.

Meanwhile, 931,960 people in Hong Kong have taken their third booster shot as of 8:00 p.m. local time (1200 GMT) Saturday.