HONG KONG - Hong Kong reported 614 new cases of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, according to data from the Center for Health Protection earlier today.
The newly reported cases consist of seven imported cases, and 607 locally acquired cases. There are another 600 cases preliminarily tested positive, the center said.
Edwin Tsui, controller of the Center for Health Protection of the Department of Health of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, said that the increase in cases may be linked to family gatherings during the Chinese New Year holiday.
Since the start of a mass inoculation program in February last year, about 5.41 million people, or 80.4 percent of the eligible population in Hong Kong, have taken at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, while over 4.87 million, or 72.5 percent of the eligible population, have taken two doses.
Meanwhile, over 1.06 million people in Hong Kong have taken their third booster shots.
As of yesterday, Hong Kong's COVID-19 tally stood at 16,022, including 213 deaths, according to worldometers.info. Hong Kong has a population of 7.5 million.
- Xinhua, MPD
